Liberal Democrats today accuse the government of letting the Criminal Records Bureau system slip “out of control”as costs and delays put thousands of people off working with children and vulnerable adults.

Over £600m has now been spent by private firms, the government, and individual job applicants, paying for CRB checks, which are necessary background checks performed prior to taking up work with vulnerable adults and all young people. Despite the need to ensure that people are safe, it is now clear that the system is broken.

I have long been campaigning for a fairer system for “enhanced” CRB checks, which can currently include hearsay evidence, unproven and contested accusations and rumour. Now Jenny Willott, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office Spokesperson, has said that something is seriously wrong. These comments come as the Lib Dems reveal that the cost of a CRB check has risen by 45% in the last three years. At the same time, the number of delays of more than one month has greatly increased. Last year over 400,000 people were stopped from starting jobs or voluntary placements by delays in the system of over a month.

Of course it’s necessary to protect the vulnerable. But the government has gone too far in its attempts to create a risk-free society that can never realistically be achieved. We have now arrived at a situation so mired in bureaucracy that millions of people are paying lots of money for checks that many of them don’t need, and often have to repeat each time they change employer or role or even place of work.

There is a shortage of people working with kids, and this type of thing really doesn’t help. The CRB system should exist to give protection to the vulnerable and re-assurance to everyone else. Right now it’s depriving children of carers because so many are put off by the cost and bureaucracy. It’s depriving innocent and willing adults of a rewarding career for the same reason. And sometimes it’s utterly unjust. It’s got completely out of control and the government need to sort it out.

Rick