Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 19309, what challenges have been faced by Dorset Police and have affected performance levels in completing Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

The operational performance plans of police disclosure units are matters for Chief Constables in association with Police and Crime Commissioners. The Dorset recovery plan is addressing a number of challenges which have affected performance levels, including the implementation of an upgraded IT system and the recruitment of additional staff to enable it to improve its disclosure turnaround times. Of disclosure certificates dispatched to individuals with a Dorset postcode between December 2014 and March 2016, 16% were not completed within 60 days.