CYP Now - OPINION: Debate - Is the cost of Criminal Records Bureau checks justified?

The cost of asking the CRB to carry out background checks on individuals who are working with children and vulnerable adults has increased by 133 per cent in less than a year - a standard check currently costs £28.

YES - Hazel Blears, minister of state for crime reduction, policing and community safety

The Government has made it clear that the CRB must be self-financing from 2005/6. As a result, it must cut the subsidy it gets from the taxpayer from £18.8m in 2003/4 to £8.1m in 2004/5 and make a compensatory increase in the disclosure fee. From 1 April 2004, an enhanced disclosure will cost £33, a standard £28, and the fee payable by a registered body for registering an additional counter-signatory will rise to £33. Disclosures will continue to be issued free to volunteers.

NO - Janice Cook, director of human resources, NCH

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