At the end of October I contacted the CRB to be told the signature was not verified and that my application was returned to Ofsted in Nottingham on 5 October. Ofsted said the application had been 'lost', then found when they realised it was on a desk after all. Staff hadn't realised the verification signature was not on the CRB records and they promised to sort it all out within a month.
In November I phoned the CRB to check if my application was going through.
It had been checked, then sent to a third party, who they refused to name.
I told them I had already given my notice to my current employer at a nursery and I couldn't believe this delay.
I heard from the CRB in mid-December that everything was fine for me - but there was nothing for my husband. He phoned the CRB, only to be told his application was rejected due to both the signature and reference number being incorrect (again).
We were very upset and phoned the Ofsted complaints line. A complaints manager said Ofsted hoped to give us more information on 23 December. But there was still no guarantee my husband's CRB clearance would be completed before 2003.
My husband finally received his CRB paperwork on 17 January, but we are still awaiting my final paperwork so that I can apply - at last - to become a childminder. Without these clearances we are in serious financial difficulty.
We asked about getting financial compensation from both Ofsted and the CRB, only to be palmed off (laughed at).
Just to add salt to the wounds, a friend who is now a nurse took ten days from start to finish in December to get all her paperwork through.
