Category: DBS News and Advice

The Internet has allowed businesses and organisations to streamline most of their workflow, and DBS Checks are no exception. As with other aspects of a company, background checks can be carried out digitally, allowing a business to streamline its hiring process.

DBS Checks are essential when safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, but there can be situations when it is difficult to know whether a DBS Check can be carried out. This is especially true regarding nannies.

Caring for children, the elderly, and vulnerable people can be rewarding, but organisations must carry out the correct background checks to ensure a person is the right fit for a role. Although the majority of people caring for people do so professionally, some will attempt to secure a position for nefarious reasons, which is why background checks are so necessary.

Every country has their own approach to background screening, and which checks can be run on prospective new employees. Businesses which recruit staff to work overseas have to make sure they are complying with local legislation, which is often quite different to that in the UK.

According to rehabilitation charities, thousands of UK workers are being blocked from employment as their DBS checks are showing up offences committed while under the age of 18. A Freedom of Information request showed that over 11,000 DBS checks last year indicated some sort of childhood criminal offence.

One of the main IT projects which is currently being pushed through by the government is the One Login digital identity service, and it has recently been announced that the DBS will be the first organisation to trial the new system.

If you are applying for a standard or enhanced criminal record check through the Disclosure and Barring service, a key part of the form is being asked to select the “workforce type” which is relevant to your situation. There’s a lot of confusion over what this all means, so read on for our simple guide to the rules.

Around 18% of the population of the UK live in private rented accommodation. Currently, demand outstrips supply in the private rental market, and this means that landlords can often be picky about who they choose to rent from. From a prospective tenant’s point of view, this means you have to make sure you are seen as a trustworthy person who will pay their rent and look after the property. Whether you are dealing directly with the landlord, or organising your tenancy through an agency, there will be some standard checks which you can expect to encounter.

A British nanny, along with her local MP, is launching a campaign for increasing regulation in the nanny industry amid worries that the lack of legislation in the sector could be putting children at risk. One of the main issues highlighted in the campaign is that there is no legal definition of the word nanny. Anyone is allowed to call themselves a nanny, irrespective of their training, qualifications or experience. Parents assume that someone who advertises their services as a nanny is a trained and qualified professional, but this is often not the case.

Although Brexit has made it more difficult for workers from the European Union to come to the UK, there are still thousands of people arriving in the UK each year to take up a new job. The points system introduced by the government means that many of the people who arrive to work in the UK are here to take up positions in healthcare, education and other specialised roles which require a criminal record check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in England and Wales. Similar bodies run checks for people who live in Scotland and Northern Ireland.