What is the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and how can Olliers help?

The Disclosure and Barring Service

Referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service regarding potential inclusion on the barred list can still arise despite the client receiving a no further action (NFA) letter or being found not guilty at trial. This can happen straight away or many years after the allegation was made. A lot of employment and volunteering placements require more than a standard DBS check. A standard check will only show cautions and convictions, an enhanced one can show any information regarding police investigations that did not lead to a conviction. The Disclosure and Barring Service have the ability to prevent individuals from working in regulated activity with vulnerable adults and children, or both. This is because, despite there being no criminal conviction, they operate at a lower threshold to that of the criminal justice system. This allows for discretionary referrals to be made following allegations in the workplace, this is because internal investigations likely arise. Again these investigations have a lower standard of proof and if found guilty they can have a devastating impact on the individual’s career moving forward.

The Disclosure and Barring Service allow for an individual to submit a representation along with any supporting documentation and character references in order for them to give their side of the argument. The Disclosure and Barring Service give a deadline for these representations to be submitted. We ensure we take enough time to get a detailed account from all our clients of what happened. We email them regularly with their draft representation for amendments, this is so we have all the relevant details and ensure nothing is overlooked. We will never submit anything without the client stating they are happy with what we have drafted. We always ensure the representation is submitted in good time before the deadline.

We have a lot of experience successfully preventing individuals from being included on both the vulnerable adults and children’s barred list.

The Police National Computer – what is it?

When an individual is arrested, their fingerprints and DNA are both taken. Upon receiving a letter of no further action, these samples will often be deleted if they have no previous convictions. The record of the arrest however, can still be shown on an enhanced DBS check, which can impact the individual’s ability not only to work but also their ability to travel to countries that require a visa. When we submit a representation not only do we apply for the arrest to be removed from the Police National Computer, we also cover fingerprints, DNA and custody photograph deletion.

Despite there not being a deadline to submit, unlike a DBS matter, we never let these matters drag on. We understand the level of stress these matters can cause clients and therefore, we set ourselves strict deadlines to get the representations submitted as if we had a deadline similar to that of a DBS matter. We have had a lot of success in submitting representations to have arrests removed from individual’s records.