Category: DBS News and Advice

Many important items of news have been slipping under the radar as the world concentrates on the Covid-19 pandemic. This means that one of the most important changes in years to the DBS system has largely flown under the radar. However, if you’re one of the thousands of people in the UK who have criminal record, it could hugely improve your employment prospects and put your mind at rest over what might show up on a DBS certificate.

The volunteering culture in the UK is strong and thriving. During the height of the recent pandemic, thousands of people stepped up to answer the government’s call to help out vulnerable neighbours and community members with shopping and other tasks. Several different volunteering programmes ran concurrently, some organised independently, and others through Councils and the NHS. However, in many areas of the country the response to the appeal for volunteers was so strong that Councils were swamped, with volunteers unable to actually help anyone due to delays in the system.

Concerns around safeguarding surfaced recently after it was revealed that someone who had served 15 months in prison for possessing images of child sex abuse was appointed Chair of Pride in Wiltshire. Swindon and Wiltshire Pride, a registered charity, has been criticised by the Charity Commission, and asked to re-evaluate their safeguarding and recruitment policies.

Despite extensive vetting carried out when they were recruited, two men working at a care home have been jailed for theft. The two men stole several valuable items including an OBE medal and jewellery from patients at a home in Reading in Berkshire. The exact number of thefts is unknown, with police indicating that at least ten elderly people had been victims of the pair.

Recent cyber attacks on organisations as diverse as the NHS and EasyJet have shown just how vulnerable businesses are to attacks from organised hackers. It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that companies across the world have been ploughing money into addressing the external threat. However, new research appears to prove that perhaps this investment is misguided, and that a greater threat is posed by the company’s own workers and management.

Lockdown hasn’t just affected those of us who have legal occupations. Police in the South-West of England have highlighted that the drugs trade has been affected too, with drug dealers having to become increasingly creative to move illegal drugs around and get them to users. Police in Plymouth tweeted a photograph of an evidence sack of envelopes, all addressed to individuals around the city who had ordered their illegal drugs to be delivered through the post, at a time where social distancing means that visiting people at home or meeting in the street attracts far more attention. The Police also pointed out that the penalties for receiving drugs in this way are exactly the same for being caught possessing drugs under other circumstances.

At the start of the Covid19 pandemic, there was endless press coverage about the army of volunteers who were stepping up to help the NHS. The idea was that they would carry out routine tasks, freeing up doctors, nurses and other health professionals to deal with patients. However, as restrictions begin to ease, all indications are that in pharmacies, volunteers have not been having the impact initially hoped for.

The launch of a new recruitment platform is set to revolutionise the way workers are recruited for key social care roles. The online platform is a joint venture between the UK government and a care recruitment portal and is called Join Social Care. Candidates interested in working in this field can register with the site, upload all of their information into the system and even upload a video interview which can be accessed by potential employees. The platform is also supported by Skills for Care and allows carers to access free training online to increase their chances of landing a job quickly.

A recent inspection of a care home in the north east of England saw the facility branded “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission. The inspection, which took place before the current coronavirus pandemic, highlighted several serious failings at Burbank Mews care home in Hartlepool. The facility cares for adults with learning disabilities and autism and was previously rated as a “good” in a previous inspection.

There are around 2,600 independent schools in the UK, providing education for 615,000 children. The sector is however coming under increasing financial pressure, partly due to schools closing through the Covid19 pandemic, and partly down to changes in government rules around tax breaks and charitable status for private schooling. One way of keeping revenue flowing could be widening access to sporting facilities, but this might not be as straightforward as it sounds.