Justice minister Jim Wallace said Disclosure Scotland, the Scottish criminal records body launched last December, issued almost 90 per cent of disclosures within its target time of 10 days, with an overall average processing time of 10.8 days.
Applications for the enhan-ced level of disclosure, appropriate for jobs that involve supervising or being in sole charge of children, must be countersigned by an organisation registered by Disclosure Scotland.
Childcare providers can either go through an umbrella organisation or register with Disclosure Scotland themselves. Mr Wallace said more than a thousand organisations had registered.
He added, 'The Scottish Executive is strongly committed to improving the safety of the most vulnerable in our society. That is why I am delighted these figures show that Disclosure Scotland is working efficiently and effectively. This is a clear benefit to public safety with more than 40,000 positions being filled by those with safety checks. The sheer level of disclosures issued shows the system is being used and trusted.'
Childcarers in Scotland have been pleased at the speed with which checks have been proce-ssed, in contrast to their English counterparts, where some applicants for checks from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) have been kept waiting for six months or more.
The Criminal Records Bureau came under fire again last week from Debra Shipley, MP for Stourbridge in the West Midlands, in a House of Commons debate. Ms Shipley said she was concerned that the list of umbrella bodies registered with the CRB was not in the public domain. She was also shocked to learn the CRB would not make random checks ensuring employers who had been told certain individuals were unsuitable to work with children had not employed them anyway.
