1. Overview

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) have merged to become the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). CRB checks are now called DBS checks.

A DBS check may be needed for:

· certain jobs or voluntary work, eg working with children or in healthcare.

There are different rules for getting a criminal record check in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Who can ask for a DBS check?

An employer can ask for a DBS check for certain roles.

DBS eligibility guidance lists most roles that are eligible for a check. However, the guidance isn’t comprehensive so contact DBS if unsure.

Applicants (job candidates) can’t do a criminal records check on themselves. Instead, they can request a ‘basic disclosure’ from Disclosure Scotland (you don’t have to be from Scotland to do this).

How to get a DBS check completed?

Contact Keystone Employment Group – [email protected] who will get in touch to assist you with the process and inform you of costs etc.

If the applicant has subscribed to the DBS update service, the employer can check their certificate online.

Types of criminal records check

There are 3 types of check. The employer or organisation running the check should provide the applicant with more information about the level of check required.

Criminal record check applicants must be 16 or over.

Standard - This checks for spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings, and will take about 2 weeks.

Enhanced - This includes the same as the standard check plus any additional information held by local police that’s reasonably considered relevant to the workforce being applied for (adult, child or ‘other’ workforce). It takes about 4 weeks.

‘Other’ workforce means those who don’t work with children or adults specifically, but potentially both, eg taxi drivers. In this case, the police will only release information that’s relevant to the post being applied for.

Enhanced with list checks - This is like the enhanced check, but includes a check of the DBS barred lists, and takes about 4 weeks.

An employer can only ask for a barred list check for specific roles. It’s a criminal offence to ask for a check for any other roles.