(2) what assessment she has made of the effect on the Criminal Records Bureau application system of the entry into force of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; and what assessment she has made of the effects of these changes on (a) processing time and (b) financial efficiency of (i) the Criminal Records Bureau and (ii) applicants or employers using intermediary bodies.
The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has been an integral part of the team tasked with designing the new processes associated with the requirements of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVG Act) to ensure that impacts on the disclosure service are minimised as far as possible.
There should be no adverse impact on the processing time of standard or enhanced disclosures as a result of the new processes, and the CRB is taking the opportunity afforded by the changes prompted by the SVG Act to explore how to leverage further efficiency improvements in its existing processes. The costs to CRB of operating the new elements of the processes associated with the SVG Act will be covered by the additional application fees levied under Act.
There is no legal requirement to assess the level of charge between intermediary bodies, individuals and small organisations for the processing of checks, which is a commercial matter between the intermediary body and its customers. However, a regulatory impact assessment for the Act was published in 2006 and includes details of the impact on small firms, references to how we propose to balance the rights of individual employees with those of vulnerable groups, and a range of references to the impact on other bodies such as regulators, the voluntary sector, local government bodies and the police.