25^th November 2009

Dear Ms Cosgrove,

Thank you for your request, received on 2^nd November 2009 made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find attached our response.

Re-Use of Information

Any information we provide following your request under the Freedom of Information Act will not confer an automatic right for you to re-use that information, for example to publish it. If you wish to re-use the information that we provide and you do not specify this in your initial application for information then you must make a further request for its re-use as per the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 www.opsi.gov.uk. This will not affect your initial information request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.

If you are not content with our response you can request a review by writing to:

Head of Policy

Criminal Records Bureau

PO Box 165

Liverpool

L69 3JD

Yours Sincerely

Anna Graves

Freedom of Information Team

FOI Reference Number: 13292

Information Requested:

Can you confirm that the CRB receives no Government subsidy against the cost of processing applications for all disclosures where the applicant is not paid?

When employers who are required to register their child care services with Ofsted, who pays for these and how much is charged?

If the funding for unpaid staff was found, say, from Government grant, what effect would this have on the cost of standard and enhanced disclosures for paid staff? [A ball park figure based on the current year or 2008 acceptable.]

[In other words if the earnings of CRB from paid staff and other sources is £X, the number of paid staff processed is A and the number of unpaid staff is B, and the cost of processing an application is £C for standard and £D for Enhanced, and £F is for Other Income:

£X= (£C+£D)*(A)+ (B*0) + £F

If the formula becomes:

£X= ((£C+£D)*A)+((£C+£D)*B) + £F, what will £C and £D be?]

In effect, are the employers with paid staff effectively subsidising the zero-charge for unpaid workers?

What would the external annual subsidy at current levels for unpaid staff need to be to remove the effective levy on paid worker disclosures to meet the cost of the unpaid disclosures?

Response :

The CRB as an executive agency of the Home Office is completely self funded and does not receive any government subsidy towards the cost of the Disclosure process.

In the event that an employer is required to register their child care services with Ofsted, the payment of Disclosure applications is a matter for the individual or organisation. The CRB does not dictate which party should incur the Disclosure cost.

The current cost of a CRB Disclosure to a paid staff member (i.e. not a volunteer) is:

£26 for a standard check

£36 for an enhanced check

The actual year to date cost to the CRB of processing a disclosure is £27. This includes direct processing costs, administration and development costs and services from police and other data sources.

The latest forecast for the notional cost of free of charge Disclosures for those who undertake a voluntary role is £31 million for the year 2009/10. This figure represents the “lost” income from Disclosures issued free of charge. If therefore, the CRB were to receive an annual subsidy to remove the effective levy on the cost of Disclosures for paid workers, it would be £31 million.

The information requested in the remainder of your response is not held by the CRB, we are unable to say what effect if any, a Government grant would have on the cost of a Disclosure application for those who have to pay for them.