Previously known as a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check, a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check is a record of an individual's relevant criminal history and may also contain police intelligence and DBS barred list information (depending on the level of check). The purpose of a DBS check is to assist employers in the process of making a safer recruitment decision.

On December 1st 2012, as part of the many changes brought about by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) closed and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was formed to take their place.

The DBS continues to be responsible for the functions previously carried out by the CRB and ISA with the exception of the ISA Registration Scheme, which has been discontinued. The DBS also carry out Basic level DBS checks for applicants in England or Wales (a function previously carried out by Disclosure Scotland).

If there is ever a safeguarding issue within your organisation and the people working or volunteering with children and/or vulnerable adults have not been adequately checked, your organisation could be held liable. To prevent this possibility SAFE advises standard or enhanced DBS checks are conducted on all eligible staff and volunteers within your organisation.

The DBS have issued various guides to help you determine eligibility within your sector, including this rather handy "Eligibility Tool".

To purchase credits for our standard or enhanced DBS checking service, click here.

Organisations can request that their staff, volunteers or applicants have standard or enhanced DBS checks only if the post they are working/volunteering/applying for is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Click here to see the DBS' own guide on exempt positions that are eligible for a DBS check. To purchase credits for our DBS checking service, click here.

For roles that are covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, employers can request Basic criminal record checks via Disclosure Scotland (for applicants in Scotland), the DBS (for applicants in England or Wales) or Access NI (for applicants in Northern Ireland).

The purpose of a standard or enhanced DBS check is to aid employers and organisations in a recruitment decision. As such, individuals cannot DBS check themselves at standard or enhanced level: there must be an employer/recruiting organisation involved. 

Individuals can, however, apply for a basic disclosure directly through the DBS (England and Wales), Disclosure Scotland (Scotland), or Access NI (Northern Ireland) - a basic disclosure only shows unspent information.

If you are an individual and simply wish to know what information the police hold about you on the Police National Computer (PNC), you can submit a Subject Access Request to the ACRO Criminal Records Office. To find out what information the police hold locally, you can submit a subject access request to the relevant police force. The response to a subject access request cannot be used in place of a DBS check - an employer should never ask you to get one.

SAFE recommends that all eligible volunteers and workers within your organisation are standard or enhanced DBS checked (as appropriate). To purchase credits for our DBS checking service, click here.

There are four different levels of DBS checks available:

• Basic checks: These can be requested by an individual or by the employer (with the applicant's permission) for any role. A basic check will show all unspent convictions. SAFEcic does not provide Basic checks as they are available directly from the issuing bodies: The DBS (England and Wales), Disclosure Scotland (Scotland), AccessNI (Northern Ireland).
• Standard checks: These are suitable for eligible roles that do not involve regular contact with children or vulnerable groups such as finance or security. A standard check will show any unspent convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands along with any spent convictions and cautions that are not eligible for filtering.
• Enhanced checks: These are suitable for eligible roles where the applicant will be working/volunteering with children, young people and/or vulnerable groups. An enhanced check will show any unspent convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands along with any spent convictions and cautions that are not eligible for filtering. Intelligence held by the police may also be included if the Police reasonably believe it is pertinent to a recruitment decision.
• Enhanced with DBS Barred List checks: These are suitable for roles where the applicant will be working/volunteering in a Regulated Activity with children and / or adults. An enhanced check with DBS Barred list check will show the same information as an enhanced check plus any information held on the barred list(s) being checked.

To purchase credits for our DBS checking service, click here.

Admin fees are charged to cover SAFEcic costs of processing. Some applications may require external ID validation that will incur a one time fee of £10 per applicant, this is a service only available upon arrangement.

To purchase credits for our DBS checking service, click here.

Once we receive a completed DBS application form at our office, we will process it within 2 working days. If everything is OK, we will then forward the application on to the DBS.

The DBS aim to complete:

• 75% of all applications within 14 calendar days from receipt
• 90% of all applications within 28 calendar days from receipt
• 99% of all applications within 60 calendar days from receipt

If you would like to follow the progress of your own or your volunteer/staff member's application once it is with the DBS, you can do so using the DBS tracking service.

A DBS/CRB certificate is only truly accurate on the day it was issued. As such, there is no official expiration or renewal date for a DBS or CRB check. Your organisation should perform a risk assessment and have a policy in place on how often you will perform new DBS checks on existing staff.

If a member of staff is on the Update Service, you may check this regularly (with the applicant's permission) and again, have a risk assessment and written policy on how often you will check and record the status of their certificate.

If you are a regulated organisation (e.g. CQC, Ofsted, etc. registered), your regulating body may already have guidance in place on the renewal of DBS checks and the use of the Update Service.

You will need a basic disclosure for your personal licence. The licencing authority should provide you with the appropriate signposting but typically if you are in England or Wales you can apply for a Basic Disclosure directly through the DBS, if you are in Scotland you can apply through Disclosure Scotland and if you are in Northern Ireland, you should apply for a basic disclosure through Access NI.

List 99 and POCA cases are both maintained by the Disclosure and Barring Service (previously the Independent Safeguarding Authority) and are now known as the 'DBS Children's Barred List'. We can request a Children's Barred List check (where appropriate) as part of an enhanced DBS application.

Similarly, POVA is now the 'DBS Adults' Barred List' and we can request an Adults' Barred List check (where appropriate) as part of an enhanced DBS application.

For instructions on completing your application form, click here (Opens in a new window).

List 99 and POCA cases are both maintained by the Disclosure and Barring Service (previously the Independent Safeguarding Authority) and are now known as the 'DBS Children's Barred List'. We can request a Children's Barred List check (where appropriate) as part of an enhanced DBS application.

Similarly, POVA is now the 'DBS Adults' Barred List' and we can request an Adults' Barred List check (where appropriate) as part of an enhanced DBS application.

The information shown on your DBS check will depend on the level of check that you apply for. There are four levels of DBS checks currently available:

A basic DBS check will show any unspent convictions and conditional cautions.

A standard DBS check will show any unspent convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands along with any spent convictions and cautions that are not eligible for filtering.

An enhanced DBS check will show any unspent convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands along with any spent convictions and cautions that are not eligible for filtering. Intelligence held by the police may also be included if the Police reasonably believe it is pertinent to a recruitment decision*.

An enhanced DBS check with DBS Barred list check will show the same information as an enhanced check along with any information held on the barred list(s) being checked (Children's, Adults' or Both).

If you are undergoing an enhanced DBS check for work that you do with vulnerable groups within your own home, your DBS may include a 'home-based position' check that may include third party information.

Only you will receive a copy or your certificate*. This copy will be sent to the current address that you provided in section B of the application form. Certificates issued before this date will have been issued in duplicate, one copy would be sent to your current address and one copy sent to the registered body who facilitated the application.

*The only exception is if your employer has been prompted by the Update Service to ask you to apply for a new DBS certificate, and the new certificate was issued more than 28 days ago but you have not presented it to them, they can then obtain a copy through the registered/umbrella body who facilitated the application.

Please speak to your organisation's nominated ID Checker or get in touch if you are having difficulty providing enough identity documents, we will work with you to try and find the best solution.

Unfortunately, we cannot replace lost or damaged certificates. If your certificate was damaged in the post before you received it, you should contact the DBS who will advise on the next steps.

You can follow the progress of your application once it's with the DBS using the DBS tracking service. This will show you the stage your application is in. If your application has been in 'Stage 4' for more than 60 days, we can submit an escalation request to the DBS (please note, we can only request escalations for applicants who have used our DBS checking service, if you have used a different organisation you will need to contact them or talk to the DBS directly).

If your certificate has been issued and you haven't received it within 14 days of the issue/dispatch date, you will need to complete a reprint request form and submit to the DBS. The Reprint Request forms and further guidance can be found here.

The DBS are unable to replace lost or destroyed certificates and they can only reissue a certificate to the address that you provided in section b of your application form (this cannot be changed). You must make your reprint request within 3 months (93 calendar days) of the certificate being issued.

Unfortunately, there is no way to update the details shown on a DBS certificate. Currently, the only way to have your new information show on a certificate is to undergo a new DBS application..

They can with your permission, however the certificate is your property and unless your organisation is an establishment regulated by Ofsted, CSSIW or a registered care home inspected by the CQC; there is usually no need for an employer to retain the certificate or a photocopy for any longer than is necesary for a recruitment decision to be made.

It will not show up on a standard level check, but it may show on an enhanced DBS check. On an enhanced DBS check, the police have the power to include any information they hold about the applicant if they believe it would be relevant to a recruitment decision, including information relating to an s136. As an applicant, you have the power to challenge any information revealed on your certificate before you show it to your employer.

Filtering or 'weeding' is the process the DBS use to determine whether information is 'protected' by current legislation and should not be automatically disclosed on a person's DBS certificate.

Filtering of Convictions

If an applicant was an adult (18+) at the time of the conviction, the conviction will be eligible for filtering (removal from the DBS certificate) if it meets the following requirements:

• It has been 11 or more years since the date of conviction, and
• the conviction did not result in a custodial sentence, and
• the offence does not appear on the list of offences that will never be filtered from a DBS certificate (found here).

If the applicant was under the age of 18 at the time of conviction, the conviction will be eligible for filtering (removal from the DBS certificate) if it meets the following requirements:

• It has been 5.5 or more years since the date of conviction, and
• the conviction did not result in a custodial sentence, and
• the offence does not appear on the list of offences that will never be filtered from a DBS certificate (found here).

Filtering of Cautions

If the applicant was an adult (18+) at the time of caution, the caution will be eligible for filtering (removal from the DBS certificate) if:

• It has been 6 or more years since the date of caution, and
• the offence does not appear on the list of offences that will never be filtered from a DBS certificate (found here).

If the applicant was under 18 at the time of caution, the caution is eligible for filtering, regardless of the nature of offence.

NB: Prior to 29th May 2013, nothing was filtered from an applicant's certificate. This change to procedure and the introduction of Filtering came about as a result of a Court of Appeal ruling in January 2013 which allowed for new legislation to be introduced.

Prior to 28th November 2020, youth cautions, reprimands and final warnings would be filtered after 2 years unless they were on the list of specified offences and where an applicant had more than one conviction offence; all convictions would show regardless of the applicant's age or the severity of the offences. This change is in response to the Supreme Court's 2019 Judgement that found such disclosures to be disproportionate.

The DBS Update Service is a yearly subscription service provided directly by the DBS for applicants. Currently the service costs £13 per applicant per year (or free for volunteers).

If the DBS applicant subscribes to the service (this must be done around the time of their application) their DBS information will be securely stored online, allowing the applicant or their employer to check the status of the certificate at any time. Instead of renewing DBS applications every few years, employers will only have to request a new DBS check be undertaken if the Update Service shows information has changed (or if they require a different level of check).

The service is portable - allowing applicants to carry their certificate between different employments, providing the new employment is in the same workforce and requires the same level of check.

If you would like to know more, you can visit the DBS Update Service page, or check out these informational youtube videos launched by the DBS: found here (for employers) and here (for applicants).

You can sign up to the Update Service on the DBS website when you apply for a the DBS check: Applicants can subscribe prior to submitting an application as long as they have their application form number (found in the top right corner of the front page, starting 'F0...'). However, SAFEcic recommends that the applicant waits until the DBS has received the application before subscribing, as the application form may be replaced or delayed before submission to the DBS. To check whether the DBS have received an application form, and to check it's subsequent progress, you can use the DBS tracking service found here.

Once a DBS certificate has been issued, the applicant has 30 days from the date of issue left to subscribe. Subscribing after a certificate has been issued can be done using the certificate number (found in the top right of the certificate).a

Applications can only be added to the Update Service if they are registered before (or within 30 days of) the certificate being issued.

No, your staff must sign up to the Update Service themselves. Only the applicant should register their application/certificate.

The Update Service is provided and managed by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), to subscribe to the Update Service, applicants must do so directly through the DBS website and not through SAFEcic.

To check an applicant's certificate status using the Update Service, the applicant must have:

• Subscribed to the Update Service, and
• Added the certificate in question to the Update Service

AND you must have:

• Sight of the original, physical DBS certificate,
• the applicant's permission, and
• a lawful reason to use the level of check the applicant holds*.

*For instance, if your member of staff has received an enhanced check with Adults' Barred List check, but you are only lawfully allowed to see an enhanced check with no barred list checks, you should not use the Update Service and should instead ask the staff member to apply for a new DBS check at the appropriate level.

If the applicant has subscribed to the Update Service and you have their permission, DBS certificate information and can lawfully use their DBS information: log on to the Update Service here and enter your details, once you click through, you will be prompted to provide the information for the DBS certificate you wish to check. You will then be shown the status of that certificate.

The status shown will be one of the following:

• This certificate did not reveal any information and remains current as no further information has been identified since its issue: Meaning no criminal or barring information is shown on the certificate, and that no new information has come to light since it's issue - you can still accept the certificate and will not need to request a new check.
• This certificate remains current as no further information has been identified since its issue: Meaning the certificate does hold criminal/barring information but no new information has come to light since it's issue - You will need to see the certificate and perform a risk assesment on the information shown, however, you will not need to request a new DBS check.
• This certificate is no longer current. Please apply for a new DBS check to get the most up to date information: Meaning you should request a new DBS check to becompleted before proceeding. If the DBS certificiate is no longer current (which can be for a variety of reasons) a recruitment decision should not be made until you have had sight of the new, up to date, DBS certificate.
• The details entered do not match those held on our system. Please check and try again. Meaning you will need to double check the information you have entered is correct and try again. If you get the same result, it's possible the certificate is not held on the update system and cannot be checked.

The applicant will receive notification of who has checked the status of the certificate and when.