Hackney Council in London has announced another crack-down on yeshivas, Jewish faith schools in the borough, many of which are operating without the correct paperwork. Legal battles have been ongoing between the schools and the council since 2013. Should parents be worried?
A Quarter of Council Staff Start Work Without a DBS Check
A recent audit of Councils in North Wales found that 25% of staff who should have had a disclosure check as part of the interview process didn’t have their certificate when they started work. Is this something which Council service users should be worried about?
New Identity Checking Guidelines for DBS
Over a year ago, the government changed their rules about identity checking for DBS checks. Many organisations and employers are still not up to speed with the latest changes and getting it wrong could result in your application being rejected.
New Ways of Paying for DBS Checks
Is there anything we can’t do with our smartphones these days? As more of us start to manage our bank accounts, apply for official documents, organise travel and everything else, official agencies often struggle to keep up with the changes. Over the past few years, government services including the process for DBS checks has changed considerably, with the volumes of applications being completed online rising year on year. The latest announcement from the Disclosure and Barring Service sees the integration of DBS checks with a wide range of payment options, including Apple Pay.
Rise in Self-Employment and DBS Checks
Self-employment is on the rise, and a recent survey of young people aged between 16 and 21 indicate that more than 20% expect to spend some time working for themselves in the future. Many people have a foot in both camps, perhaps by working in an employed job part time, and getting extra money from freelance or casual employment. This form of flexible working is increasingly popular and has its own drawbacks and advantages. One of the main areas of confusion is about the process for disclosure checks for people who are self-employed.
DBS Update – Uptake Still Low
The latest DBS figures, showing how quickly disclosure checks are turned around in various parts of the country have recently been released. Although the main focus of the figures is about time and targets, but if you dig a bit deeper into the figures there are some other facts which stand out too. One of the main revelations is around the number of people who are enrolling in the DBS Update service, which remains low.
Latest Guidance on Making a Barring Referral
If you work in a business with people who need DBS checks then there may be occasions when you need to report them to the DBS. This is called a barring referral. There is a lot of misunderstanding about DBS checks and barring, who can make them and what the end result of a referral may be.
International Schools Banned from Doing DBS Checks
Around the world, thousands of schools are following the British school system. There are a few reasons why this is the case. Firstly, it’s often a throwback to the past, where many countries around the world formed part of the British empire. In other countries, learning English is thought to be so important that parents want to send their kids to international schools, staffed by British teachers. Finally, many countries have a high number of UK expat workers, who want continuity for their children by choosing to send them to an international school. However, a recent announcement by the DBS has changed the way in which schools overseas check up on teachers.
Why Addresses are Important for DBS Checks
Along with your name and date of birth, your address is one of the key pieces of information which you need for a DBS check. Recent changes in the rules about your address history make it more important than ever to get the address history correct. So, what exactly do you need to know about your address?
Uber Taxis, the Gig Economy and DBS Checks
Bosses at the taxi app company Uber are anxiously waiting to find out whether their application for a licence to operate in London again has been granted. It’s hard to believe that Uber only started operating in the UK in 2012, having launched first in San Francisco two years earlier. Although initially offering rides all over the UK capital, Uber had its licence withdrawn in 2017 after worries about the way they were checking up on their drivers. If Uber regains the right to operate in the capital, are you safe getting into an Uber cab?
