The Government introduced a free and fast track Disclosure and Barring Service check service for health and social care employers in March 2020 as part of the pandemic response. This service was brought in to ensure that they were able to safely and rapidly onboard large volumes of workers into COVID-19 related roles. The decision to cease the free arrangements in Spring this year is because the demand to recruit large numbers of staff into COVID-19 related positions has significantly reduced and the vaccine programme is coming to an end. The focus is now on recruiting to support elective care as business as usual which is not the legislated purpose of these arrangements. This is aligned to the government’s ‘Living with Covid’ strategy and ceasing of other temporary arrangements under the Coronavirus Act.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is a non-departmental public body, established in 2012 under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Current legislation dictates that DBS must charge a fee for Disclosure applications in all cases, with the exception of applications made by volunteers. The DBS is required to operate on a full cost-recovery basis and is dependent on applications for certificates. The fees for applications for certificates are prescribed under the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002. There are currently no plans to exempt key workers from fees for DBS checks.

Current fees for DBS applications were reduced through secondary legislation in April 2022 to their lowest ever levels, benefitting all applicants, including key workers. Fees are reviewed on an annual basis.

Table 1 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to scan an application, search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate for applications nationally.

Table 2 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to scan an application, search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate for applications with a London postcode.

Table 3 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to scan an application, search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate for applications within the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.

Figures for the average processing time for returning paper applications cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Checks of the Children’s barred list and the Adults’ barred list are carried out in parallel to the local police checks and data on the average time taken to conduct these checks cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.

The relevant data is being finalised and I will write to the Honourable Member shortly with the information requested.

The Department for Transport does not hold details of the checks that individual local licensing authorities undertake on taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.

All taxi and private hire vehicle drivers can be subject to an enhanced criminal record check, which includes a check of the children’s and adults barred lists, through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). In the Department’s Best Practice Guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing and through engagement with licensing authorities, we strongly encourage licensing authorities to carry out an enhanced DBS check on all applicants.

The DBS is establishing the complex data required for this answer and this involves interrogating key systems to establish the correct information.

I will write to the Honourable Member separately as soon as their work is concluded.

The DBS is establishing the complex data required for this answer and this involves interrogating key systems to establish the correct information.

I will write to the Honourable Member separately as soon as their work is concluded.

Table 1 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to the applicant nationally.

Table 2 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to applicants with a London postcode.

It is not possible to provide figures for the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency as this information is not collected.

Figures for the average processing time for scanning and returning paper applications cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Checks of the Children’s barred list and the Adults’ barred list are carried out in parallel to the local police checks and data on the average time taken to conduct these checks cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.

Regional information relating to service standards for each year since 2012 cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

However, information relating to DBS performance at police force level is held on the Gov.UK website and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dbs-performance

The following table provides the number of disclosure checks received for “Keepers of Registers” and “Supervisory Authorities” in each year since December 2012. Information relating to local authorities cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Adult First is a service provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service that can be used in cases where, exceptionally, and in accordance with the terms of Department of Health guidance, a person is permitted to start work with adults before a DBS Certificate has been obtained.

An individual neither passes nor fails an Adult First check and a certificate is not withheld if a person is on the Adults barred list. If a person is on the list, that fact will be disclosed on the completed DBS certificate.

There are two outcomes to an Adult First check and the Registered Body is either advised that no match exists for this person on the current Adults barred list, or they must wait for the full disclosure as a match against the Adults barred list cannot be ruled out at this stage. Further investigation is then carried out through the normal disclosure checking process and if a match against the Adults barred list is confirmed, it will be disclosed on the certificate.

The table below shows the number of requests that were made for DBS Adult First checks, the average time taken to complete Adult First checks and the number of times the Registered Body received a ‘wait for the full disclosure’ or ‘no match found’ response between December 2012 and November 2015.

The following tables shows the proportion of applications for DBS checks that met the Published Service Standards for waiting times nationally and for applications received from people residing in London postcodes in each year since December 2012:

Table 1: All applications nationally

Table 2: Applications from London postcodes

It is not possible to provide the figure for applications from Hampstead and Kilburn constituency as this information is not collected.