Local School sand Charities Hit by Criminal Record Fee Doubling

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 16th Jun 2003

MP Vincent Cable has joined other MPs in sponsoring a motion condemning the Home Office for the decision to double the fees paid by schools, charities nurseries and care homes.

The fee doubling follows a year of prolonged delays and disruption as organisations employing people who work with children have had to wait for their staff to be cleared by the CRB.

Vincent Cable, MP, said that several local groups - play groups for example - had been almost driven out of business by the "incompetence and failure of the Criminal Records Bureau and the private company Capita, which is being bailed out with £18.8M of tax payers money".

"Now, local schools that are already desperately strapped for cash, and voluntary groups, will have to pay through the nose for a poor service while professionals and volunteers who want to work with the vulnerable are being further help up as Capita and the CRB struggles to cope with a surge in demand for criminal record checks".