The government has been urged to increase resources at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and to put pressure on the organisation to improve its performance.
The Criminal Records Bureau provides checks on potential new recruits for employers working to provide services to vulnerable groups, such as nurseries and care homes.
For £30 per check the Criminal Records Bureau will provide the organisation with the background of a potential new employee.
However, employers have been reporting that they can be waiting eight weeks or more for a report back, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.
These delays can cost applicants their jobs because the employer cannot afford to wait for the Criminal Records Bureau to take several weeks before checks come through, warned David Croucher, national crime policy chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses.
“The CRB is holding people back from taking up jobs, creating huge headaches for employers and – most importantly – depriving vulnerable people of expert care. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he said,
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“If they are lacking in resources the government must review the funding for the CRB. But we also demand urgent action from the CRB to speed up the process.
“Further improvements must also be made to the system itself to allow the CRB to meet its obligations and also to permit people to carry their checks forward, with only an update required, to a new job,” Croucher added.
