About Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) disclosures

If a person is convicted of an offence they can, after a certain period of time, not disclose this conviction when asked by an employer. If the job applied for is to work with children, vulnerable adults or in certain regulated positions of trust however the applicant must disclose this information no matter how long ago the conviction. These situations are exemptions to the rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974 and a DBS disclosure will be required. On receipt of a disclosure the employer can make an informed decision on the suitability of the person for that job. (The position must fulfil the above criteria for a disclosure application to be admissible.)

There are three different levels of criminal record checks.

Also referred to as a Standard Disclosure. These are primarily for posts that involve working with children or vulnerable adults. Standard checks may also be issued for people entering certain professions, such as members of the legal and accountancy professions. The Standard check contains details of all convictions held on the PNC including current and ‘spent’ convictions as well as details of any cautions, reprimands or final warnings.

Also referred to as an Enhanced Disclosure. These are for posts that involve a far greater degree of contact with children or vulnerable adults. In general the type of work will involve regularly caring for, supervising, training or being in sole charge of such people. Examples include a Teacher, Scout or Guide leader. Enhanced checks are also issued for certain statutory purposes such as gaming and lottery licences.

This level of check involves an additional level of check to those carried out for the Standard CRB check – a check on local police records. Where local police records contain additional information that may be relevant to the post the applicant is being considered for, the Chief Officer of police may release information for inclusion in an Enhanced check.

(In accordance with DBS guidelines blackboardrecruitment.com does not undertake police checks on behalf of individual persons. We do, however, act on behalf of recruiting organisations. If you have been asked to obtain a DBS check please ask the person who has asked you to apply to contact us.)

For further information call us now on +44 (0) 1283 711169