1.6 Applications for Standard or Enhanced Disclosures are made by potential employers when they recruit staff (see Figure 4). Employers or voluntary organisations registered with the Bureau, known as Registered Bodies, ask prospective employees to complete the application which the Registered Body countersigns to confirm that the check is required as part of a valid job application. The Registered Body also checks the identity of the applicant.
1.7 In checking whether there is information held on the applicant, the Bureau can draw on:
■ the Police National Computer which contains details of convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings for recordable offences;
■ the National Identification Service (which includes a microfiche record of criminal convictions prior to 1995);
■ lists of individuals who are unsuitable to work with children held by the Department for Education and Skills11; and
■ relevant information held by local police forces.
The level of checking carried out depends on the type of disclosure applied for.
1.8 Soon after the Bureau's start in March 2002, customers experienced delays in the issue of Disclosures. The delays led to backlogs of applications impacting on employers who could not recruit; volunteers who could not work for charities; and those applying to adopt, foster or look after children who had to wait until their Disclosures were issued. However, the situation was stabilised in the autumn of 2002, and by June 2003 service standards were being met and the backlog was eradicated. As show in Figure 5 opposite, by July 2003 the Agency had issued some two million disclosures.
_______________________________________________________________________________
11 The Department for Education and Skills is now responsible for the list maintained previously by the Department of Health.