The purpose of a criminal record certificate issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is to assist employers and others to make safer recruitment decisions by providing details of an individual’s criminal history. A criminal record certificate will include the individual’s gender and any other names that they may have used in the past.

The DBS also offers a sensitive applications route which takes into account both the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010. This gives transgender applicants the choice not to have any gender or name information disclosed on their DBS certificate that could reveal their previous gender identity.

Those applying via the sensitive applications route are required by law to provide all name details to the DBS, including any previous identity, in the same way as applicants using the mainstream route. The criminal record certificate issued by the DBS will contain exactly the same criminal record information as a certificate obtained via the main route, including any relevant convictions, cautions or other information dating from when the applicant had a different gender identity.s

The purpose of a criminal record certificate issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is to assist employers and others to make safer recruitment decisions by providing details of an individual’s criminal history. A criminal record certificate will include the individual’s gender and any other names that they may have used in the past.

The DBS also offers a sensitive applications route which takes into account both the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010. This gives transgender applicants the choice not to have any gender or name information disclosed on their DBS certificate that could reveal their previous gender identity.

Those applying via the sensitive applications route are required by law to provide all name details to the DBS, including any previous identity, in the same way as applicants using the mainstream route. The criminal record certificate issued by the DBS will contain exactly the same criminal record information as a certificate obtained via the main route, including any relevant convictions, cautions or other information dating from when the applicant had a different gender identity.s

All applicants for criminal record certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) are required to sign a legal declaration confirming that they have disclosed both their current and previous identities. The DBS has systems in place, including working with HM Passport Office and the police, to verify identity and detect previous cautions and convictions an applicant may hold, including those obtained under a previous identity. Police forces supply all relevant nominal data to DBS to ensure that checks are as complete and robust as possible.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) services require that applicants disclose all previous names and addresses so that they can process an application correctly and return accurate results.

The DBS provides a confidential service for transgender applicants in order to help protect their identity, via a dedicated ‘Sensitive’ application team. This process allows applicants to disclose previous gender/name information only to DBS so that the previous names are checked, but are not disclosed on the completed certificate unless criminal record information exists in that name.

Nothing is more important than the safety of children, which is why private tutors are already eligible to receive basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates, which parents and carers should ask to see to assure themselves of a tutor’s suitability. In addition to asking to see a private tutor’s basic DBS certificate, parents and carers might also consider what other information may be available to help them assess a tutor’s suitability to work with their children. It is recommended that parents confirm a tutor’s identity. Testimonials from parents and/or pupils themselves will help provide reassurance about the tutor’s teaching ability and about the way in which they interact with the pupil.

Parents and carers should also look to ensure that the home tutoring takes place in a room in the home that allows the parent access to enable them to supervise.

The Government is exploring ways to allow self employed people, including tutors, to access enhanced criminal records checks.

On 21 October 2020, the Department published ‘Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs and tuition: non-statutory guidance for providers running out-of-school settings’. This guidance is for organisations or individuals who provide community activities, tuition or after school clubs for children, also known as out of school settings (OOSS) providers, as well as their staff and volunteers.

The guidance aims to help providers of OOSS understand best practice for creating a safe environment for children in their care and give parents and carers confidence that their child is in a safe activity or teaching environment. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-out-of-school-settings-code-of-practice.

Alongside this, the Department has also published accompanying guidance for parents and carers to help support them when choosing OOSS providers for their children, including positive signs and red flags to look out for. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-safeguarding-children-in-out-of-school-settings.

Volunteers play an important role in supporting children in many of our schools. As decisions whether to engage volunteers are made locally by schools, the department does not collect data on the number of volunteers in schools or data on safeguarding checks carried out for volunteers. There is, therefore, no data held on which to base an estimate of safeguarding checks carried out.

The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, makes clear that any volunteer should not be deployed to work unsupervised with children without appropriate checks. Where schools decide that a DBS criminal record check is appropriate for a volunteer, these can be obtained free of any charge from DBS. There are no plans currently to change these arrangements.

There is a legal requirement for a DBS criminal record check for school governors, which are predominantly volunteer roles, including any parent governors. School governing boards have a key role in providing clarity of vision, and promoting the ethos and direction of the school and setting the school's aims and policies. DBS and other pre-appointment safeguarding checks, provide reassurance to the governing board that an individual is not disqualified from holding office as a governor and is suitable for the position.

Volunteers play an important role in supporting children in many of our schools. As decisions whether to engage volunteers are made locally by schools, the department does not collect data on the number of volunteers in schools or data on safeguarding checks carried out for volunteers. There is, therefore, no data held on which to base an estimate of safeguarding checks carried out.

The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, makes clear that any volunteer should not be deployed to work unsupervised with children without appropriate checks. Where schools decide that a DBS criminal record check is appropriate for a volunteer, these can be obtained free of any charge from DBS. There are no plans currently to change these arrangements.

There is a legal requirement for a DBS criminal record check for school governors, which are predominantly volunteer roles, including any parent governors. School governing boards have a key role in providing clarity of vision, and promoting the ethos and direction of the school and setting the school's aims and policies. DBS and other pre-appointment safeguarding checks, provide reassurance to the governing board that an individual is not disqualified from holding office as a governor and is suitable for the position.

The table below shows the total number of Standard and Enhanced certificates issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service over the last 10 years. The figures include applications for volunteer roles, which are processed free of charge.

The Disclosure and Barring Service was established on 1 December 2012 when the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) merged. The table below shows total fee income from disclosures for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2015 collated from the Annual Reports for the period. DBS is self-funding and operates on a full cost recovery basis.

On 1 December 2012, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) replaced the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). The DBS performs the functions previously carried out by the ISA and CRB.

The draft statutory instruments relevant to the proposed changes to what must be disclosed by the Disclosure and Barring Service in response to an application for a criminal record certificate or an enhanced criminal record certificate were laid before Parliament on 26 March 2013.