What is an Enhanced DBS Check?
An Enhanced DBS check, known as an Enhanced CRB check, is the most detailed level of DBS check. It can be requested only in specific instances and is necessary for duties, positions, and licences which are included in ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975) and the Police Act 1997 regulations.
Enhanced Certificates contain both spent and unspent convictions, plus any information the local police force considers to be relevant for disclosure.
These Enhanced Criminal Disclosure Checks can only be requested by an employer or organisation – not an individual.
There are two types of Enhanced DBS Check available:
Enhanced DBS Check Without Barring List
Enhanced DBS Check with Barring List
An Enhanced DBS Check with vulnerable Adults/Children’s Barred list are commonly used for positions such as healthcare workers, teachers, and other roles that require providing healthcare, or unsupervised contact with children. If someone is on a Barred List, it means they legally cannot work with the relevant group.
What is included in an Enhanced DBS Check?
An Enhanced DBS Certificate contains all spent and unspent convictions, final warnings, and reprimands from the PNC. It also includes any information that the local police consider relevant for disclosure. It will also include the result of a check against one or both barred lists, if necessary.
How Much Does an Enhanced DBS Cost (UK)?
An Enhanced DBS check costs a flat government fee of £38, and then a fee on top to process it, often called an admin fee.
With Aaron’s Department, this admin fee will cost you between £5.69 to a maximum of £9.95 (+VAT) depending on the number of enhanced DBS checks you do.
Can I Apply for my own Enhanced DBS Check?
Only an organisation or employer can submit an application for a standard or enhanced DBS Check for their staff or volunteers if they fall into the eligible category. This is different from a Basic DBS, which anyone can apply for.
What do You Get With Our Enhanced DBS Check Service?
- Built in tracking system
- A direct connection to the UK Government gateway
- Free-of-charge registration
- Professional and knowledgeable customer support
- An error-correcting system which fixes mistakes as you go.
- Eligibility guidance, both on our website and through customer support.
What Are The Types of Enhanced DBS Check?
Unlike Standard and Basic DBS checks, there are two types of Enhanced checks:
Enhanced DBS Check
Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List Information
DBS Adult First Check
Have an urgent need for your applicant to begin working with vulnerable adults? No problem!
You can apply for a quick check on the Adults Barred List, called the DBS Adults First check when filling out your Enhanced application form.
Getting this allows your workers to start before they have received a full Enhanced DBS Certificate. If the check does not indicate you should wait for the DBS Certificate, they can start working under supervision, until it is received.
To get this check, the following criteria needs to be met:
1.
The position the applicant is to work in requires a criminal record check by law.
2.
The position is eligible to access to the DBS Barred list.
3.
Your organisation has requested the DBS Enhanced with Barred List check for the applicant.
Please remember that this is NOT a full DBS check. To properly hire a person for a position which includes working with vulnerable adults without supervision, the applicant must possess an Enhanced DBS Certificate with Barred Lists information.
Is There a Quick Check on the Children’s Barred List?
No. You must wait for the Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List to be returned before anyone is allowed to work with children.
Enhanced DBS Check Stages
After your application has left the Aaron’s Department system, your Enhanced DBS check can go through up to five stages:
STAGE 1
Application for an Enhanced check is received and validated by the DBS and is checked for errors or empty fields. Within a day, it is entered into the DBS system or returned to the counter-signatory to be corrected.
STAGE 2
The applicant is checked in the PNC (Police National Computer) for relevant information.
STAGE 3
They are then checked on the relevant Barred list(s). (Only the Enhanced DBS check with Barred Lists information goes through this stage.)
STAGE 4
There is then a check against the local police records, with the local police deciding which information is relevant for disclosure relating to the position the applicant is applying for.
STAGE 5
The Enhanced DBS Certificate is printed under very secure procedures and is sent to the applicant.
Additional Information Regarding the Enhanced DBS Checks
What are the Barred Lists?
The two Barred Lists, Children’s and Adult’s, contain the names of individuals who have commuted offences which involve vulnerable grounds.
This, as the name suggests, includes children (Children’s Barred List) and/or vulnerable adults (Adult’s Barred List). Anyone on this list can no longer work withthe relevant group.
How Does Someone End Up on the Barred List?
An individual is included in one of the two Barred Lists because of a conviction or caution that they have received during a risk evaluation that considers them a risk towards Vulnerable Adults and/or Children.
How Do I Know if I’m on the DBS Barred List?
When being considered for a relevant conviction that may add you to the DBS Barred List, you will be formally notified.
This can be done via two methods:
1. Included in a Barred List– This notification is sent when the applicant has committed an offence that puts them on a Barred List automatically. These are offences which are considered most serious, and the person who has committed them is given no opportunity to defend themselves against this inclusion via representations or to have their name removed from the lists.
2. Minded to Bar– The notification is sent when the DBS are considering to include a person on a list after assessing information which suggests the person should be included. However, unlike the Included in a Barred List notification, the person is formally invited to defend themselves against their inclusion on the Lists via making representations as to why they shouldn’t be barred.
What Activities Require a Barred List Check?
To be eligible for a Barred List check, the applicant’s applied position must involve engaging in regulated activity with children and/or vulnerable adults.
Children’s Regulated Activities are as Follows:
If done regularly:
- Unsupervised activities, such as teaching, caring, driving a children-only vehicle or caring/supervising children.
- Working in ‘specified places’ that have the opportunity to be in contact with children. For example, a school or children’s home.
The following are always classed as regulated activity:
- Personal care for children.
- Managing/ supervising anyone else who has regulated activity.
- Providing healthcare by (alone or under the supervision) a regulated healthcare professional.
- Registered childminding or foster care.
Regulated Adult Activities are as Follows:
- Personal care for them.
- Social work (provided by a social care worker).
- Providing healthcare by (alone or under the supervision) a regulated healthcare professional.
- Assisting them with money, or shopping due to their illness, age, or disability.
- Helping conduct their own affairs (under a formal appointment).
- Assisting them to go to and from places where they receive personal care/healthcare or social work.
How Does the DBS Decide When to Consider an Individual for Barring?
It can be done in the following three ways:
1. Discretionary Referrals
Not every organisation can make discretionary referrals. There is a list of organisations which can do these:
- Health Care Trusts
- Social Care Trusts.
- Education Authorities.
- Supervisory Authorities.
- Regulated Activity Providers.
- Personnel Suppliers.
- Local Authorities.
2. An Application for an Enhanced Check
- In the case when a person applies for work in a Regulated Activity and is to undergo an Enhanced DBS check while having been cautioned/convicted of an automatic inclusion offence, the DBS will consider the notion of including the person on the barred lists.
- These considerations can usually be revoked with making representations. But, if the person has committed an automatic barring offence, they will be given no such opportunity.
3. Automatic Barring Offences / Automatic Inclusion Offences
- Automatic Barring Offences – The most serious of offences and because of the severity, people who have these type of offences cannot defend themselves by making representations as to why they shouldn’t be included on the lists.
- Automatic Inclusion Offences – When a person has this type of offence, before their inclusion in the lists they are sent a formal invitation to defend themselves by making representations.
Offences and cautions aren’t the only thing that can get someone on the Barred List.
The DBS consider referral information as well; one instance of inappropriate behaviour can get someone in the Barred List.
Why is Local Police Information Important?
Formerly known as ‘approved information’, it is now known as ‘police intelligence’/’non-conviction information’.
This is held by the local police force and can be used to disclose the relevant information that is important for a DBS check.
Types of Information that Constitute the Local Police Information
- Fixed Penalty Notices.
- Penalty Notices for Disorder.
- Findings of Innocence.
- Cautions and Convictions of People that the Person Lives With.
- Acquittals (a verdict that a person isn’t guilty of the charge).
- Any other information that the police may consider relevant.
Please note that this is different from the Police National Computer (PNC). The PNC information is included in both Standard and Enhanced Certificate checks, whilst local police information is only in an Enhanced DBS Certificate.
The decision on what to disclose is made by the Chief Police Officer, according to specific laws. All information provided will be relevant to the position the applicant is applying for. In other words, if it isn’t relevant to the specific job, it won’t be disclosed.
Social Media Posts Can Affect Enhanced DBS Checks
In the 21st Century, social media has a larger presence than ever and gives users the ability to comment and interact with other account holders, including celebrities, brands, and ‘normal’ users.
If an individual were to be found guilty because of a social media post under any of these legislations, then the crime would appear on a DBS check, just like any other conviction would, and this would be on an Enhanced DBS Check.
Do You Need an Enhanced DBS Check for Care Roles?
People who are working in care in any capacity, such as a Nurse or Carer in a residential home, will need to get a DBS Check. As this will involve the healthcare of vulnerable adults and children, then an Enhanced DBS Check will be needed.
Begin Your Stress-Free Enhanced DBS Check with Aaron’s Department Today!
Aaron’s Department is a Registered DBS Umbrella Body. We will process your Enhanced DBS check requests the same day as receiving them, to ensure the fastest possible turnaround.