New frameworks creating CRB backlog

Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks are becoming a problem for West Midlands Police, with reports of individuals waiting several months for a response.

West Midlands Police has admitted to a growing backlog of CRB checks, which means some requests are held up at the expense of the applicants. It said new frameworks are causing delays in processing the requests and extra staff will be taken on to ease the problem.

CRB checks, required before applicants can work with children or vulnerable people, have a national target of 75 per cent to be completed within ten days. A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: “West Midlands Police makes every effort to deal with criminal records checks thoroughly and quickly and 60 per cent of all checks requested of the force are processed within ten days.

“However, there is currently a backlog in this area of work. This has arisen since the introduction of the Quality Assurance Framework, which was brought in nationally as a new process to provide a higher level of safety following the Bichard Report.

“West Midlands Police recently underwent a recruitment drive to employ new staff to help deal with the existing workload and to improve its future service in this area and an additional dedicated team has been drafted in to help clear the backlog.”

West Midlands is currently 15 per cent below the ten-day target for completing CRB checks, but each force is permitted up to 60 days to complete all checks.

Earlier this year, Police Professional reported on a similar backlog at Lincolnshire Police, with only 39 per cent of its CRB checks completed within 14 days. Lincolnshire blamed staff shortages and sickness as a contributing factor, but also commented on the dramatic increase in demand for CRB checks, up 2,800 on the previous year.