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36-605: The Disclosure and Barring Service ( DBS ) is a non-departmental public body of the Home Office of the United Kingdom . The DBS enables organisations in the public , private and voluntary sectors to make safer recruitment decisions by identifying candidates who may be unsuitable for certain work, especially involving children or vulnerable adults , and provides wider access to criminal record information through its disclosure service for England and Wales . It

72-794: A "Responsible Organisation". The standard DBS check is primarily for positions of high responsibility (for example, accountancy and security). Standard certificates reveal details of any convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings the applicant has received, that do not qualify for filtering. A standard check may only be applied for if the applicant's job role is specified in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, as amended. Enhanced DBS checks are for positions involving certain activities such as teaching children or treating adults and can also be obtained for certain other professions (for example, judicial appointments, RSPCA officers). An enhanced check may only be applied for if

108-531: A CRB Enhanced Disclosure in respect of all teachers they recruit before the person is placed in a school." Huntley had been hired in November 2001, before the CRB came into force. Sociologist Frank Furedi has stated that CRB checks cannot provide a "cast-iron guarantee that children will be safe with a particular adult", and that their use has created an atmosphere of suspicion and is "poisoning" relationships between

144-540: A DBS certificate if it met the guidelines laid out in The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013 On 17 June 2013, the DBS update service was launched, intended to improve the ease of applying for criminal record checks and create significant savings. At a fee of £13 a year (or free for volunteers), applicants may use a certificate more than once within

180-607: A barred person in regulated activity with the group from which they are barred. An organisation which is entitled to ask exempted questions (under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 ) must register with the DBS, or a registered DBS Umbrella Body before they can request a DBS check on an applicant. The applicant applies to the DBS with their application countersigned by the DBS Registered Organisation or Umbrella Body. The applicant's criminal record

216-589: A danger to vulnerable groups). The police decide what (if any) additional information will be added to the certificate using the Quality Assurance Framework. The involvement of local police forces can mean an enhanced check may take significantly longer than a standard check to be completed. This includes all that Enhanced certificate does, plus a check of the appropriate DBS Barred List. There are two DBS Barred Lists: one for adults, and one for children. The lists contain information on whether

252-549: A member of staff, they can make a safeguarding referral to the DBS who will work with multiple agencies to assess whether that individual should be Barred from working in regulated activity with children and/or vulnerable groups. The Criminal Records Bureau was established under Part V of the Police Act 1997 and was launched in March 2002, following public concern about the safety of children, young people and vulnerable adults. It

288-506: A sector where the disclosure level, workforce details, barring list checks and volunteer status are the same; an employer with consent to run a DBS update check and the consent of the subject can, free of charge, check that the existing certificate is up to date, and should check the applicant's identity and the certificate's authenticity. The DBS work to a number of standards for the criminal record checking service and barring case accuracy. Performance service standards are also agreed between

324-543: A small secretariat from the parent department, and any expenditure is paid for by that department. These bodies usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than ministers. Appointments are made by ministers following the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments . They employ their own staff and allocate their own budgets. These bodies have jurisdiction over an area of

360-490: A string of offences including rape , indecent assault and burglary . His only conviction before the murders was for riding an uninsured and unlicensed motorcycle, but a burglary charge had remained on file. In January 2006, following controversies resulting from cases where staff had been hired by schools before a full CRB check had been carried out, the Department for Education and Skills stated: "Employers should obtain

396-540: Is a legal requirement in the UK for regulated activity employers to notify the DBS if a person leaves or changes their job in relation to having harmed someone. It is an offence for any person who has been barred by the DBS to work or apply to work in Regulated Activity (whether paid or voluntary) with the group (children or adults) from which they are barred. It is also an offence for an employer to knowingly employ

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432-698: Is in Liverpool . Its equivalent agencies are Disclosure Scotland in Scotland and Access Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland , although convictions from every part of the UK appear on a DBS check. On 17 June 2013, a DBS update service was launched, intended to improve the ease of applying for criminal record checks and create significant savings. On 1 February 2018, the National Audit Office published an investigation report that

468-609: Is responsible for their costs and has to note all expenses. NDPB differ from executive agencies as they are not created to carry out ministerial orders or policy, instead they are more or less self-determining and enjoy greater independence. They are also not directly part of government like a non-ministerial government department being at a remove from both ministers and any elected assembly or parliament. Typically an NDPB would be established under statute and be accountable to Parliament rather than to His Majesty's Government . This arrangement allows more financial independence since

504-587: Is then accessed from the Police National Computer (PNC), as well as checked, if appropriate, against lists of people considered unsuitable to work with children and vulnerable people maintained by the DBS (formerly maintained by the Independent Safeguarding Authority . A copy of the completed certificate is sent to the applicant's home address. If an individual or organisation has safeguarding concerns regarding

540-670: The DBS and Police disclosure units. The CRB had been due to partner with the ISA in administering the newly created Vetting and Barring Scheme from 2009. This was suspended in 2010 pending a review following the 2010 general election . This review was published in February 2011, making recommendations for the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority into one new non-departmental public body ,

576-616: The law . They are coordinated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service , an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice , and supervised by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council , itself an NDPB sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. These bodies were formerly known as "boards of visitors" and are responsible for the state of prisons, their administration, and the treatment of prisoners. The Home Office

612-586: The Care Standards Act (2000), the Department for Health introduced an adult version of List 99 named 'POVA first' on 26 July 2004, this was later renamed 'ISA Adult First' and finally; 'DBS Adult First'. The Adult first and List 99 services allow registered bodies (when eligible) to check whether an applicant appears on the DBS Adults' or Children's Barred List through the online checking system, this takes around two working days to turn around. If

648-638: The Disclosure and Barring Service, responsible for barring individuals and completing criminal record checks. Under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 , the DBS does not require registration, nor are any details retained on a database. The procedures of the CRB were tightened following the Soham murders trial. Ian Huntley, a former caretaker, was found guilty of murdering two girls from a Cambridgeshire primary school in 2002. Huntley had been suspected of

684-507: The Labour government in office from 1997 to 2010, though the political controversy associated with NDPBs in the mid-1990s for the most part died away. In 2010 the UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition published a review of NDPBs recommending closure or merger of nearly two hundred bodies, and the transfer of others to the private sector. This process was colloquially termed the "bonfire of the quangos". NDPBs are classified under code S.13112 of

720-432: The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The basic DBS check will disclose any convictions or conditional cautions deemed to be unspent according to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 . The aim is that this service will reduce the need for unnecessary and ineligible Standard or Enhanced checks. Basic DBS checks can be obtained by the individual online through the DBS website or through a registered third party known as

756-594: The UK Government. This total included 198 executive NDPBs, 410 advisory bodies, 33 tribunals, 21 public corporations, the Bank of England , 2 public broadcasting authorities and 23 NHS bodies. However, the classification is conservative and does not include bodies that are the responsibility of devolved government , various lower tier boards (including a considerable number within the NHS), and also other boards operating in

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792-517: The applicant is barred from working with either of the two groups. An individual may only be checked against one or both barred lists if their job role is classified as a "Regulated Activity" with children and/or adults under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, as amended. Some other jobs include food delivery driver jobs. As of 29 May 2013, the DBS began to "filter" certain criminal information from

828-489: The applicant's job role is specified in both the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 and the Police Act 1997. In addition to the information provided on a Standard certificate, the Enhanced certificate involves an additional check with the police, who check if any other information is held on file that may be relevant (for instance, information that has not led to a criminal conviction but may indicate

864-419: The check is clean the organisation may provisionally employ the applicant, subject to an increased level in supervision, until the return by post of the full disclosure. The DBS was formed in 2012 by merging the functions of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 . The DBS started operating on 1 December 2012. Its main office

900-582: The creation of a "public appointments commissioner" to make sure that appropriate standards were met in the appointment of members of NDPBs. The Government accepted the recommendation, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments was established in November 1995. While in opposition, the Labour Party promised to reduce the number and power of NDPBs. The use of NDPBs continued under

936-420: The generations, with many ordinary parents finding themselves regarded as "potential child abusers". The restrictions imposed by the CRB check process have allegedly contributed to a shortage of adult volunteers in organizations such as Girlguiding UK . In 2009 the CRB's Enhanced Disclosure was criticised for including details of any minor contact an individual has had with the police, even where no formal action

972-557: The government allowed the establishment of "Adult First" . In May 2002, the Department for Education began maintaining a list of individuals who are not suitable to work with children. This list was originally named List 99 , later named the ISA Children's Barred List (maintained by the Independent Safeguarding Authority ) and finally, the DBS Children's Barred List (maintained by the Disclosure and Barring Service). Under

1008-490: The government is obliged to provide funding to meet statutory obligations. NDPBs are sometimes referred to as quangos . However, this term originally referred to quasi-NGOs bodies that are, at least ostensibly, non-government organisations , but nonetheless perform governmental functions. The backronym "quasi-autonomous national government organization" is used in this usage which is normally pejorative. In March 2009 there were nearly 800 public bodies that were sponsored by

1044-496: The new update service by 2017–18, but it was not market tested and the actual number of users is around one million. According to the National Audit Office investigation, the modernisation programme is now running three and a half years late and expected costs have increased by £229 million. DBS is currently negotiating with its contractor, Tata Consultancy Services, over the delays. The modernisation programme and

1080-535: The public but enhanced checks are only available to organisations and only for those professions, offices, employments, work and occupations listed in the Exceptions Order (1975) to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. In January 2018 "Basic" DBS checks were introduced which will disclose details of any cautions or convictions deemed to be unspent in

1116-611: The public sector (e.g. school governors and police authorities). These appointed bodies performed a large variety of tasks, for example health trusts , or the Welsh Development Agency , and by 1992 were responsible for some 25% of all government expenditure in the UK. According to the Cabinet Office their total expenditure for the financial year 2005–06 was £167 billion. As of March 2020, there were 237 non-departmental public bodies. Critics argued that

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1152-683: The system was open to abuse as most NDPBs had their members directly appointed by government ministers without an election or consultation with the people. The press , critical of what was perceived as the Conservatives' complacency in power in the 1990s, presented much material interpreted as evidence of questionable government practices. This concern led to the formation of a Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) which first reported in 1995 and recommended

1188-689: The update service were expected to increase the ease and frequency with which people were checked, thereby improving safeguarding. But the Home Office and DBS do not know how many people have been prevented from working with children or vulnerable adults through use of this information. The process by which the DBS provides criminal record data is called DBS Certificate or a DBS check (previously CRB check ). There are four levels of DBS checks, Basic , Standard , Enhanced and Enhanced with barred list checks (for Basic Disclosures, see Disclosure Scotland ). DBS basic checks can be obtained by members of

1224-461: Was found that the British police forces did not have adequate capability or resources to routinely process and fulfil the large number of criminal record checks requested in a timely fashion, so a dedicated agency was set up to administer this function. Employers and temporary staff agencies have bemoaned the time it takes for a worker to be cleared by the DBS and in an effort to cut waiting times

1260-409: Was highly critical of the DBS. In 2009, the Home Office launched a programme to increase the efficiency of safeguarding services. Key aims of the programme were to reduce the cost of running the disclosure service, through customers using a new and cheaper update service rather than continuing to use existing types of disclosure certificates. The Home Office expected 2.8 million paying users to be using

1296-502: Was taken against them. Non-departmental public body The term includes the four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal, and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations and public broadcasters ( BBC , Channel 4 , and S4C ). The UK Government classifies bodies into four main types. The Scottish Government also has a fifth category: NHS bodies . These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. They are often supported by

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