Category: DBS News and Advice

An inspection by the Scottish police watchdog has revealed that not all Police Scotland officers have vetting records. It also appears that some officers and other members of staff have never been vetted since they initially started their career. The inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) has highlights a lack of vetting processes within Police Scotland. This report comes hot on the heels of criticism of the Metropolitan Police’s vetting system, which saw the Met Police commissioner forced to admit in spring 2023 that there were 161 serving Met Police officers with criminal convictions, some of which were for violent or sexual offences.

If you are a manager who has recently taken over responsibility for managing a company’s fleet, ensuring the eligibility of every driver operating a company vehicle is a fundamental aspect of your new job. It’s a big responsibility, carrying significant consequences for non-compliance. Failure to take reasonable steps to confirm a driver’s legality may result in substantial fines and other serious repercussions for the company under health and safety law. Checking driving licences can be an administrative burden, but there is really no better way of making sure you are only allowing legally qualified people access to your company’s vehicles. Approximately 5% of UK motorists have points on their licences, and many fail to disclose this information to their employers unless specifically asked about it. If you are unsure of your legal responsibilities, here are six key things to bear in mind.

Background checks are becoming increasingly common in many aspects of everyday life, including employment screening, visa applications, and even getting a position as a volunteer. The two most widely used types of background checks are the ACRO (Association of Chief Police Officers Criminal Records Office) and DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks.

If you have a property which you rent out or are on the other side of the transaction as a tenant wishing to rent a property, you will know all about tenant background checks and why these are important. For a landlord, making informed decisions about who to rent their property to depends on getting information from tenant background checks. These checks can vary between agencies but will usually include basic identity checks, a nationality check to determine right to rent, and a credit check. Agencies may also take references from previous landlords, and perhaps ask for a guarantor if they are concerned about an individual’s ability to pay.

Is telling fibs on your CV really such a big deal? Most of us know someone who has done it or have even done it ourselves. There is no harm in inflating a couple of school grades, or exaggerating your previous work experience a little, right? Repeated surveys show that CV fraud is rife, and that as much as 62% of CVs contain errors. Being charitable, it is possible that genuine mistakes can happen, and that the person was not deliberately trying to deceive. However, the same study revealed that 37% of CVs have five mistakes, and 4% have over 20 mistakes.

Although the Children’s Barred List checks are still commonly referred to as “List 99 Checks,” this term became obsolete in 2002. At this time the List 99 checks were rebranded as the Children’s Barred List, administered by The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). As the name suggests, these checks apply to people who are thinking of taking a position which involves working with people under the age of 18. Your employer should guide you as to whether you will undergo a List 99 or Children’s Barred List check as part of the job application process.

Employers across the UK are being encouraged to review their current procedures to verify employees’ Right to Work in the UK before more stringent penalties come into force next year, according to an immigration law expert. The Home Office recently announced that fines for employing illegal workers are to rise significantly in 2024. The proposed changes will mean that businesses employing individuals without the appropriate right to work could face fines starting at £45,000 per worker, a three-times increase from the current penalty of £15,000 for a first offence. Repeat offenders might incur fines of as much as £60,000 per illegal worker. These changes are scheduled to come into effect from the beginning of 2024.

It seems that the motor industry is the latest target for raising standards and integrity. Only recently, the government set the requirement that everyone who is in charge of a garage offering MOT testing, or who passes the exams to carry out MOT tests, must have a basic DBS check. When introduced, this legislation only applied to MOT testers who were qualifying for the first time, or to people who were setting up a new business offering MOT testing. Hot on the heels of this requirement is an extension to the legislation, which sees additional checks required for testers who have allowed their training to lapse.

As of 7th November 2023, China has officially become the latest major country to be a party to the Apostille Convention. This development should streamline the authentication process for foreign documents intended for use in China and bring about significant time and cost savings for both businesses and individuals.

As of April 2023, the NHS issued new guidance to recruiter about how they should be verifying the identity of people wishing to join the organisation. As the NHS employs 1.4 million people in England alone, many of us will work there at some point in our careers or know someone who will. The idea behind the new NHS identity checking standard is to tighten up processes across the organisation, and make sure that the same process is being followed for each and every volunteer and employee across this enormous organisation.