Dear all

I thought that members of lists would like to see the latest news from the 
CRB.  I suppose four months notice is preferable to the three weeks 
given last time. 

"The Government announces an increase to the cost of Disclosures with 
effect from 1 April 2004 and issues a consultation on proposed draft 
regulations 
  

Today, the Government has announced that it will be increasing the cost 
of the Disclosures with effect from 1 April 2004. 

Over the past year the Criminal Records Bureau has made significant 
improvements to its service delivery and has continued to make internal 
efficiency savings. These savings, together with those that should come 
about as a result of the medium to long term changes suggested by 
Independent Review team, should see a reduction in our operating costs 
of the Disclosure service over the coming years. However, from April next 
year the Government will more than half its subsidy to the Criminal 
Records Bureau and as we must recover our costs from the fees that we 
charge for the Disclosure service, this has led to a corresponding 
increase in the Disclosure fee for next year.

With effect from 1 April 2004 the following fees for Standard and 
Enhanced Disclosures will come into force (Disclosures for volunteers 
will continue to be issued by the CRB free of charge):

Standard Disclosure  £28.00 
Enhanced Disclosure  £33.00

The Government also announced a Home Office consultation that invites 
views from customers on draft regulations, which the Home Secretary 
proposes to make under Part 5 of the Police Act 1997. The main focus of 
the regulations are to strengthen the role of Registered Bodies in the 
Disclosure process, in particular by making them unambiguously 
responsible for validating the identity of applicants for a Disclosure and 
for ensuring that Disclosure applications forms are fully and accurately 
completed. 

Comments on the consultation document should be addressed to:

Mrs Rosalind Greenfield
Criminal Records and Security Industry Unit
The Home Office
85 Buckingham Gate
London SW1E 6PD"

-- 
Thank you and kind regards 

Rob Dawson
Assistant Registrar (CRB)
Registry Services
University College Chester
Parkgate Road
Chester
CH1 4BJ

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Tel: 01244 392892
Fax: 01244 392821
http://www.chester.ac.uk/