To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Criminal Records Bureau standard searches have been outstanding for (a) over two weeks, (b) over four weeks and (c) over 10 weeks. [118510]

The information sought by the honourable Member is not available in the format requested. There are no IT procedures at present to differentiate between the number of outstanding Standard disclosures and the number of outstanding Enhanced Disclosures. The following is a breakdown of the total number of outstanding Disclosures held by the Criminal Records Bureau, for the periods requested. These figures do not include those applications where individuals have been asked to provide further information.

• Over 2 weeks—12,981
• Over 4 weeks—6,424
• Over 10 weeks—12,612

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the change in demand for checks for the Criminal Records Bureau after 5 June 2003. [118892]

[holding answer 12 June 2003]: The Home Office is continuing to maintain close contact with the major stakeholders and key players to gauge the level of demand for the Disclosure service. Taking into account the introduction of checks on care workers, announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 5 June 2003, Official Report, column 27WS, the Criminal Record Bureau forecast demand for £2.6 million Disclosures in 2003/04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the income through charging of the Criminal Records Bureau,(a) prior to the implementation of proposed measures and (b) subsequent to this. [119335]

[holding answer 13 June 2003]: Since its launch on 11 March 2002, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has generated the following income from Registration and Disclosure fees:

	£ million
2001–02	1.5
2002–03	18.3

The Bureau has forecasted that its anticipated income through charging will be:

	£ million
2003–04	56.1
2004–05	86.6

As with all Government fees And charges, the CRB operates on a cost-recovery basis and the rules preclude the Bureau from making a profit. This principle, laid down in Section 2 of Her Majesty's Treasury's "The Fees and Charges Guide" states that charges should normally be set to recover the full cost of the service. In all years, the CRB's operating costs are projected to exceed its income.The Government made it clear when the £12 fee for a criminal record Disclosure certificate was originally announced in 2001 that the intention was for the CRB eventually to become self-financing and that fee levels would be regularly reviewed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criminal records checks are carried out in respect of new personnel in each of the probation areas in England and Wales; and if these checks changed after the creation of the Criminal Records Bureau in April 2002. [119782]

Since the creation of the Criminal Records Bureau in April 2002, all new employees who have direct contact with offenders, including probation officers, probation service officers, prison staff (including admin and clerical staff) and hostel workers are checked through the Bureau.Prior to this they were checked via the relevant police force for the Probation Area.