Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps is her Department taking, in conjunction with the Home Office, to ensure that police forces are meeting published service standards on the speed and efficiency of DBS checks.

DBS have the following measures in place to ensure police forces are meeting the published service standards on speed and efficiency of DBS checks:

1. The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and DBS have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place with all forces with regards to delivering against quality, output, cost, and timeliness measures.
2. DBS has account managers in place who work with the forces and monitor progress against SLA measures.
3. DBS distributes the required funding to allow forces to recruit the staff needed to process the work, cover IT costs and accommodation charges.
4. DBS has embedded across all forces a “Quality Assurance Framework” that provides a consistent approach to the quality of work done across all forces.