Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Disclosure and Barring Service had been in process for more than 30 days in the most recent period for which figures are available.

As of 31 May 2016, the DBS had 78,596 disclosure applications in progress which were over 30 days old. In 2015/16, the DBS processed 86.9% of applications within 21 days, against a target of 85%.

In 2014-15 the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) issued 4,111,856 disclosures. 400,883 of these took longer than 30 days.

The DBS is reliant on police forces completing their checks in a timely manner and is working closely with those forces whose performance does not meet turnaround time targets.