19th December 2000
The Home Affairs Select Committee has decided to undertake an enquiry into the setting up of the Criminal Records Bureau. This enquiry is likely to include the effect of the policy of charging voluntary organisations to use the service. Oral evidence will be taken in February. Written evidence is welcomed by Friday 19th January.
Written submissions are strongly encouraged from Counties/Areas, Districts and Groups, and from individuals. Detailed local calculations and descriptions of implications are essential to supplement and illustrate the picture from the national scene. This might include local costs calculated at £10 per check, impact on adult volunteer recruitment if the £10 was charged to the individual, type of area served by Scouting and benefits to young people, role of adults volunteering through Scouting, etc
Please pass this note to as many colleagues as possible to maximise the number of submissions being made, and extend the network to all others with whom you may have contact in the voluntary sector (youth organisations, sports clubs, churches, Red Cross/St John, etc).
Guidance from the Committee is that evidence should be in the form of a self-contained memorandum with numbered paragraphs, not exceeding 1,000 words. Submissions should be sent - if possible - in electronic form to the Second Clerk of the Committee at homeaffcom@parliament.uk or on disk. They should be in WordPerfect, Word or rich text format. They should avoid colour or complicated layouts. A paper version should also be posted with a covering letter to The Second Clerk of the Committee, Home Affairs Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. (Please copy submissions to Scout Headquarters.)
We are grateful to all those who have already contacted their MP on this issue, and hope that many more will still do so. Even if you have met or written to your MP, please add your voice to this Select Committee Enquiry.
(In the past few days, it has been announced that checks for volunteers will be free in Scotland - this renders even more significant the disparity of the proposed tax on volunteering in England and Wales.)
