The
Criminal Records Bureau says it is reducing the backlog of checks for those
wanting to work in education.
The
CRB reported to the inaugural meeting of the CRB’s Education Users Group that
it is now returning 50 per cent of enhanced checks within a three-week period
and 80 per cent of standard checks.
The
bureau said that in the past few weeks it has been able to process more checks
than it receives, meaning it is reducing the backlog.
However
the CRB admits it still has a problem with applications submitted months ago,
before it put adequate checking mechanisms and quality control measures in
place.
The
CRB estimates that there are 270,000 checks outstanding – 100,000 are with
local police forces, 90,000 currently with the CRB and 70,000 still waiting to
be processed.
The
CRB wants to change its system by February by providing regional support via
passport office premises, expanding a dedicated account manager system for all
registered bodies, creating a tracking system for application forms, and ending
the system of call centre operators only dealing with four issues per call.
Commenting
on the announcement, Marcia Roberts, director of external relations at the
Recruitment and Employment Confederation said: "We support the commitment
from the CRB to improve its service and some welcome changes seem to be on
their way at last.
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"However,
we remain vigilante in our monitoring of the CRB’s performance and will be
pressing for compensation for members who have been victims of its
failure."
