| |
|
|
| CALLS
FOR SAVINGS ON CRIMINAL CHECKS TO BENEFIT CUSTOMERS |
26/01/04 |
| |
The
NCVO has expressed concern with plans to pass any savings made by the Criminal
Records Bureau (CRB) onto the government instead of to service users.
In a letter to Hazel Blears MP, the minister responsible for the CRB who
revealed the proposals, NCVO argues that, rather than save the government
money, cuts should be made in the charges payable by voluntary organisations.
The group has been campaigning since last summer, when fees for standard
criminal record checks were doubled from £12 to £24 "without warning,
leaving many charities who had already fixed their budgets for that year
facing serious shortfalls".
A further increase of 17% is now set to take affect from April this year,
raising the cost of a standard check to £28.
In its letter, NCVO asks for a meeting to discuss its proposal that cost
savings achieved by the CRB be passed on to customers.
Chief executive Stuart Etherington says: "Future savings could offer
the opportunity to considerably reduce the financial burden of criminal
records checks on the CRB's customers. It would be very disappointing if
this opportunity was missed.
"By passing on savings made by the CRB to its customers, the government
could provide the crucial protection that the most vulnerable in our society
need without placing an unacceptably high financial burden on voluntary
organisations." '
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
