DBS Checks For Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) 

A DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) is a check of an individual’s criminal history. The level of check will depend on the amount of information that is accessed from police intelligence records and the DBS barred list information. All levels of DBS checks are to help employers and organisations to recruit both employees and volunteers more safely. DBS Checks were formerly known as the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check.

The DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Check has taken the place of the CRB check. The introduction of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 saw the closure of the CRB and ISA (Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA), with the Disclosure and Barring Service opened in its place. DBS is now responsible for checking that had previously been carried out by CRB and ISA.

There are three types (or levels) of DBS check – Basic, Standard or Enhanced. At MyVetting.com, we carry out all three levels of DBS Checks.

Basic Check – A Basic DBS Check shows all of the applicant/s’ unspent convictions. A Basic DBS Check can be applied for either by a company or by an individual.

Standard Check – A standard DBS check is more detailed than the basic check, and in addition to disclosing any of your unspent convictions, a standard check may disclose older information which is felt to be relevant to the position which you are applying for. Standard checks are mostly used for positions in financial services or the justice system, so things like theft or fraud convictions might be of particular interest. Decisions about what to disclose are made on a case-by-case basis.

Enhanced Check – An Enhanced DBS Check is mandatory for roles that involve children and/or vulnerable adults, whether in paid employment or volunteering. An Enhanced DBS Check will show all spent and unspent criminal convictions and reprimands. An Enhanced DBS is checked against the Police National Computer and the children and adults barred lists.

If you are an applicant, your employer or lead organisation should be able to tell you if you need a DBS Check. They can use the UK Government Eligibility Tool to check as required and it will indicate whether an employee or volunteer needs a DBS Check for a specific role and also what level of check they need. Businesses and organisations will be liable legally if safeguarding is compromised when working with children and/or vulnerable adults. To prevent safeguarding issues, all eligible staff and volunteers should be checked as indicated by the Eligibility Tool.

It is the responsibility of the employer or organisation to decide on the level of disclosure for an employee or volunteer. This may be guided by the role and/or the environment they will work in, for example in a caring or coaching role. The UK Government Eligibility Tool can help you to identify what level of DBS Check is required.

A business or organisation is legally responsible for ensuring an individual can apply for a particular role. Employers and organisations are legally obliged to check and confirm, via DBS Check, that anyone working for their organisation with or near children and vulnerable adults has not been barred from working with either adults or children.

You cannot fail a DBS check as a DBS Check will only show whether an applicant has a criminal record or not. It is the employer’s decision as to whether an applicant is suitable for employment.

A DBS Certificate belongs to the person whose name is printed on the certificate. It should be made available to your employer.

DBS Certificates do not have an expiry date; however, an organisation or employer should stipulate how regularly DBS Certificates should be renewed by employees, contractors or volunteers. If you leave employment to start a new role you will need to complete this procedure again. It is recommended that Disclosures are renewed annually or at least every 2 years.

An individual can request a Basic disclosure on and for themself.  The Basic Check includes information on unspent convictions. However, an individual cannot request a Standard DBS Check or Enhanced DBS Check. These levels of DBS Checks must be requested by an employer or umbrella organisation.

An individual can request a Basic disclosure on themselves, which will contain information on unspent convictions. An individual cannot request a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check.

Contact the DBS directly by phone on 03000 200 190 or by email at customerservices@dbs.gov.uk 

You will need your reference number.

That will depend on the policy of your employer or organisation. Some companies pay for applicants’ DBS Checks while others request that applicants pay for their own DBS Check at the point of application. If you are an applicant and unsure of the company policy, please check directly with the organisation.

A ‘spent’ conviction is a conviction, caution, warning or reprimand that has been received by an individual but that has expired after a certain period of time. While the conviction is ‘unspent’, it remains on their criminal record and the Police National Computer. The period of time that a record will remain before expiring is defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Spent convictions will not appear on a Basic DBS Check. For Standard and Enhanced DBS Checks, spent convictions may or may not appear – according to filtering according to legislation put in place on 29th May 2013. This means that while spent convictions will not appear on a Basic DBS Check, they may also not appear on a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check – however the list of conviction types and offences that can never be filtered from a certificate is considerable.

An unspent conviction, warning, caution or reprimand is one that has had a certain length of time attached to it by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 which means that it is still on their criminal record and on the Police National Computer. It will appear on Basic, Standard and Enhanced DBS Check certificates.

There are only certain circumstances under which the DBS will reprint a DBS Check:

• If the original DBS certificate was lost in the post en-route to the applicant
• If this loss is reported within 90 days of the issue date.
• For DBS Checks, there will only be one paper copy of the certificate and this is issued to the applicant.

Most of the Basic DBS Checks can be completed within 48 hours, but we ask that you allow at least 48 hours in case of a large volume of traffic at the Disclosure and Barring Service. Standard and Enhanced Checks are more involved and can take up to 10 working days, however, at MyVetting.com, we work towards 10 working days, targeting five working days. It may take up to 10 days for your certificate to arrive in the post.

Every DBS certificate is connected with a role within the named organisation. Moving organisation will require a new DBS check and moving roles within the same organisation may mean that you need to move from a Standard DBS Check to an Enhanced DBS Check, if you are now working with or near vulnerable people.

At MyVetting.com, we accept the following payment and card payment options via a secure payment gateway. They are:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• Apple Pay
• GPay

If you experience any issues, please contact us.

Complete the application form and proceed to the payment page. If any issues arise, we ask that you please check all information that has been added in the correct format. If you need further support, please contact us.

This is not a problem. It is not a requirement of the DBS for the applicant to hold 5 years UK-based address history. When completing your application simply provide your full 5-year address history, including any international addresses.

DBS Barred Lists are lists administered by the DBS that include individuals who are barred from working with children, vulnerable adults or both.

Filtering is the process used by the DBS to assess whether particular information on convictions and cautions is protected under current legislation and, therefore, should be removed from an individual’s DBS Certificate before printing. Employers and organisations can ask an individual to provide information on convictions and cautions that they are legally entitled to know about. Both Standard and Enhanced DBS Certificates include details of convictions and cautions – including youth cautions, reprimands and warnings – recorded on the Police National Computer. Police National Computer data relating to protected cautions and convictions will be filtered out and will not appear on certificates.