DBS FAQs

Employers are responsible for knowing when a job or volunteering role requires a DBS check. There are three levels of check:

• basic (individuals can request their own basic checks direct from the DBS)
• standard (via an umbrella body)
• enhanced (via an umbrella body)

An employer can ask all job applicants to apply for a basic check during the recruitment process. Basic and Standard checks are not suitable for roles working with children or vulnerable adults.

An applicant must be 16 years of age or older to get a standard or enhanced check and they must apply through a DBS registered body via their employer.

Please refer to our Guidance and Documentation pages for further help and support or visit the DBS website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-guidance-leaflets

 

Please refer to our ‘Fees and Costs‘ information for guidance.

Once registered with the ARC Disclosure Service, your organisation is set-up on our online system as a Business Unit, and the relevant Business Unit Administrators will be sent emails with details of their user name and password to access the system.  If you have provided details of ID Verifiers for your organisation, they will also be sent emails with details of their user name and password to access the system to check and verify an applicant’s ID for your Business Unit.  Further guidance is available on our ‘How to register for DBS checks‘.

This can differ from application to application. There are a number of factors that can affect the timely completion of checks, including but not restricted to, the accurate completion of the application, the clarity of the information provided, the existence of conviction or non-conviction information and the operational effectiveness of the Disclosure Units at the police forces involved in the Enhanced Disclosure process.  If the applicant has provided all the mandatory information, then a completion of the initial stages of the check is done within a matter of days.

When a Business Unit Administrator is logged into the DBS online system they will have access to the dashboard to the applications for your organisation. Applications being processed have a tracking facility to see what stage the application is at.  Applications complete will show a status and issue an e-certificate.

No, there is no minimum requirement, you can process as many checks each month as you wish. You will be invoiced at the end of each month for the checks carried out for your organisation.

No, you do not need to be an ARC member to use our Disclosure Service although you will benefit from reduced admin costs.  See our ‘Fees and Costs‘ information page.

If you wish to carry out a check for a volunteer for your organisation, please refer to our ‘Fees and Costs‘ information for guidance.

Employers can recheck their staff at their own discretion. It is up to the employer to decide if they want to have a re-checking policy and to decide the intervals for re-checking. Some employers recheck every two or three years. Others rely on employees declaring any changes to their criminal records. Some organisations refer to the guidelines issued from their Regulatory Body.

If criminal convictions are revealed on a disclosure certificate, the information is valid on the date the certificate is issued. An employer should check the date the certificate was issued to decide about getting a new one.

Employers should not normally take or keep photocopies of an applicant’s certificate. If there is a business specific or appropriate reason for doing so, for example if there is a dispute or complaint, the employer must explain the reason and get the applicant’s permission.  Employers should not keep a certificate for longer than six months.  If it is considered necessary to keep the certificate information for longer, you should consult the DBS.  Further information is available from the DBS – Handling of DBS Certificate Information.

The DBS offers a confidential checking process for transgender applicants.  This process is for transgender applicants who do not wish to reveal details of their previous identity to the person who asked them to complete an application form for a DBS check.

For more information about the transgender process, email [email protected] or see the DBS Transgender Applications guidance.

For employed staff or volunteers in a role providing services to, or having close and regular supervision of children or vulnerable adults, applicants will normally need to apply for an enhanced check.  An enhanced check must be applied for through a registered body.

See guidance documents section

If the position is home based, this must be recorded on the application and applies to:
an applicant carrying out some or all of the work with children or adults in the applicant’s home…
Home based occupations include:

• child-minding
• fostering
• adoption
• Shared Lives Carers

Detailed information is available on the DBS website – ‘Home-based position definition and guidance‘

The DBS will not provide a reprint of your certificate if:

• the certificate has been accidentally lost or destroyed after you received it
• the DBS certificate was issued more than 3 months ago (93 days).  A new DBS check will need to be submitted with the appropriate fee if a certificate is still needed
• a reprint of the certificate has already been dispatched and the copy has not been received

The DBS will process your request if all of the following points apply:

• your DBS certificate was issued over 14 days ago, but you haven’t received it. You can find out the date your certificate was issued on through online tracking
• the reprint request has been made within 3 months (93 days) of the date of issue of your certificate
• the address you request your certificate to be reprinted and sent to matches the address on your DBS application.

Detailed information is available on the DBS website – ‘DBS certificate reprint guidelines‘

If the applicant thinks that the information on their DBS certificate shouldn’t be there or is incorrect, they can raise a dispute by contacting the DBS, their website gives further guidance.

A dispute must be raised within 3 months of the certificate being issued.

As of 31 May 2021, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) implemented a change to the enhanced DBS check application process which means that DBS is no longer able to amend an applicant’s personal information on the application form, once it has been submitted.

Enhanced DBS check applications that are submitted with omitted or incorrect information regarding these sections will be withdrawn, and a new application will need to be submitted.

If an application is withdrawn due to an omission or error in their personal information, DBS will be unable to provide a refund. Where an omission is found, DBS will not contact the applicant, but will instead write to the Registered Body that submitted the enhanced application to inform them.

Please see the ARC Disclosure Services – DBS Retention & Deletion Policy Feb 19 v 1.2 for further information.

During the retention period for all online applications, certain data is deleted from the application at specified periods.  See ARC Disclosure Service – DBS Retention & Deletion Policy above.  At 24 month from application, the system will automatically remove the application from the system.   This can only happen if the employment history dates have been completed.