Improvements made to police DBS check delays

Sussex Police said it had made significant improvements in the length of time it took to process criminal record checks.

The average time taken to process applications has fallen from 92 days in the autumn to 34 days, the force said.

The backlog of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks has fallen from a peak of 13,000 in late November to 9,600.

Chief Constable Jo Shiner said she was "absolutely confident that things are moving in the right direction".

Mrs Shiner said: "We've been able to recruit, we've been able to adjust the training to be a bit more efficient.

"We will continue to strive to improve, we absolutely recognise the impact that it has if people are waiting around for their DBS checks."

In September and October a number of people told the BBC they were being prevented from starting jobs and earning a living because of long delays to DBS checks.

The number of DBS applications outstanding for more than 60 days has reduced from 7,000 in November to 5,780 this month, but those outstanding for more than 100 days have only reduced from 3,700 in November to 3,500 now.

The government's Disclosure and Barring Service said the average time to process enhanced applications nationally is 12 days and it is giving additional support to Sussex Police.

Mrs Shiner added that it was vital not to compromise safeguarding.

She said: "That's the balance because we've seen some of the tragic consequences of them not being done properly."

In a statement Sussex Police said: "We have made real refinements to our triage and processing without compromising quality. We have also seconded some additional staff from other departments in the short-term.

"We are confident that we can sustain and build upon these improvements as our team continues to grow with two recruitment programmes this year and another planned for the spring."

New software for processing DBS checks is due to be introduced by Sussex Police in April.

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