The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is responsible for maintaining the adults’ and children’s barred lists. These lists include individuals that are barred from engaging in regulated activity.
DBS is also responsible for making informed decisions as to whether an individual should be included in one or both lists.
A referral is information about an individual that has been provided to DBS.
The referral tells us of concerns that the individual may have harmed a child or adult or put a child or adult at risk of harm.
If you have been referred to DBS, this could be because of one of the following:
The stages of the barring decision-making process are detailed below.
DBS’ ability to decide whether an individual should be included in one or both of the barred lists falls under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVGA) or the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Order 2007 (SVGO). DBS will determine whether the case falls within our legal powers under the SVGA/SVGO.
This will include considering if there is evidence that the person:
If the above-mentioned initial criteria are met, the case proceeds to the next stage.
The next stage of the process is for DBS to gather and assess information to establish relevant conduct or a risk of harm. DBS has no investigatory powers, so we rely upon the information provided by other organisations. This means that we may need to request additional information to support the decision-making process.
We will also consider any previous referrals we may hold about you, where applicable. This could provide evidence of cumulative behaviour that indicates a safeguarding risk.
DBS is required by legislation to regard convictions, police cautions and the findings of specified ‘competent bodies’ as facts in our decision-making. Further information gathering may be necessary as a result of any involvement from these organisations.
A list of competent bodies whose findings cannot be challenged with the DBS, can be found here.
The information gathering process can impact on the time it takes us to consider your case, particularly where little or no information has been provided to support the referral. We do however recognise the impact that the referral process can have on you, and endeavour to obtain the information we require as quickly as possible by actively chasing any requests we have sent for information.
Note, you can contact us during the referral process to request an update on your case. We cannot discuss specific details of the case however we can advise how far the case has progressed for example, if we are currently waiting for more information.
Once we have received the necessary information, your case will be allocated to a decision maker who will then determine if inclusion on one or both barred lists may be appropriate.
We will confirm the decision made in writing and provide further information to help you understand what you need to do next, if applicable.
If you have been referred to DBS, this could be because of one of the following:
We will now seek further information about the circumstances of the referral.
At this stage in the barring process, there are no legal restrictions preventing you from engaging in regulated activity. There may however be other restrictions placed on you by other professional bodies and our decision does not override these.
If, after considering all the information, we think it may be appropriate to bar you from engaging in regulated activity with vulnerable groups including children, and include you in one or both barred lists, we will write to you to inform you of this.
We will also write to you if we decide that it is not appropriate to include you in one or both barred lists.
If you receive a letter stating that it is not appropriate to include you in the children’s barred list / the adults’ barred list, we will have been in contact with you previously to advise that we were considering information received about you.
This letter means that you will not be prevented from engaging in regulated activity and will not be included in the barred lists.
Note, other bodies including some professional bodies may place other restrictions on you and our decision does not overrule these.
This letter is sent if we think it may be appropriate to include you in one or both barred lists. All documents used to reach this decision will be enclosed in this letter.
You now have the right to provide any information that could challenge our findings and/or explain why including you in one or both barred lists would be inappropriate or disproportionate. Any information you provide is known as your ‘representations’.
More information about representations can be found here.
If you have been ‘barred’, this means you have been included in one or both barred lists, and have been barred from engaging in regulated activity with children, adults or both.
It is a criminal offence to engage or seek to engage in regulated activity or regulated work with the group from which you are barred.
If you are currently engaging in regulated activity with vulnerable groups including children, you would be committing a criminal offence to continue todo so. The situation should be discussed with your employer as soon as possible.
If you are included in the children’s barred list, you are not allowed to engage in regulated activity with children (anyone under 18 years of age) in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. You are also not allowed to carry out regulated work with children in Scotland.
If you are included in the adults’ barred list, you are not allowed to engage in regulated activity with adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You are also not allowed to carry out regulated work with protected adults in Scotland.
Inclusion in either barred list lasts indefinitely and is entirely separate from any other sanction imposed by a court or other organisation. You will remain included in one or both barred lists until we write to you advising otherwise.
Vulnerable groups including children and protected adults are defined in legislation as people receiving specific types of care and assistance.
For more information about protected adults and regulated work, visit Disclosure Scotland’s website here.
If you have been barred, the following options are available to you:
You may apply to DBS for permission to have your inclusion in a barred list reviewed.
More information about reviews can be found here.
You may appeal our final barring decision to:
You may only appeal with the permission of the Tribunal, and on the grounds that we have made a mistake on any point of law, or in any finding of fact which we have made and on which the decision to include you in one or both barred lists were based.
If the Tribunal finds that we have made an error regarding either of these, the Tribunal may direct us to reconsider your case or remove you from one or both barred lists.
If you wish to appeal, you should send your request directly to the Tribunal, no later than three months from the date of your final decision letter. If you are late in applying for permission to appeal, you must ask for an extension of time and explain why you are late in sending your request. The Upper Tribunal or Care Tribunal Judge will consider if you are to be granted an extension of time and if not, they will not admit your application and you will not be able to appeal.
Further information about appealing can be found here.
The third-party consent form can be used by individuals that have been referred, and would like a nominated individual or organisation to communicate with DBS on their behalf, with regards to their barring case.
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More information on how to appeal Inclusion on the DBS Barred List(s) see the guide in our resource section below.
