Written question asked by Lord Vinson (Conservative) on Tuesday, 7 June 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 June 2016. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Wednesday, 15 June 2016 on behalf of the Home Office.

Scout Association: Vetting

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the number of children waiting to join the Scout movement, what plans they have, if any, to review the procedures for repeat Disclosure and Barring Service checks of volunteers.

Answer: The Government has introduced an Update Service to enable existing criminal record certificates to be kept up to date whilst reducing the need for repeat checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS is driving greater uptake of the Update Service which will continue to reduce the need for repeat checks, whilst continuing to safeguard children. The Update Service and criminal records certificates are provided free of charge to volunteers. It is for the Scout Association to determine when criminal records checks should be undertaken and whether to enable volunteers to make use of the Update Service.

Secondary information