The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) launched on the 1 December and merges the services previously provided by Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). If you would like to find out more you can also visit the DBS website.
Following the Protection of Freedoms Act receiving Royal Assent on 1 May 2012, there are certain changes happening this September.
Regulated activity is work that a barred person must not do. As a key part of changes to reduce the scope of regulated activity, the Protection of Freedoms Act removes from regulated activity, broadly, supervised work such as instructing or looking after children, which if unsupervised would be regulated activity.
The Act also places a duty on the Secretary of State to publish guidance on supervision. This guidance, to which organisations must have regard, is to help them decide whether the supervision they plan to provide will take the supervised activity out of regulated activity.
Organisations will be able to obtain an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, but not check barred list status, for supervised work that is no longer regulated activity.
The new definition of regulated activity comes into force on 10 September. A factual note on regulated activity can be found on this page. The statutory guidance on supervision, which can also be found on this page, comes into effect at the same time. Draft guidance was issued for consultation earlier this year. Following consideration of the responses, a number of technical and drafting changes have been made to the guidance.
We also intend to publish a short report on the consultation, along with some frequently asked questions (FAQs) that were asked during the roadshows: these will be available here shortly.
Home Office has downloadable leaflets which explain the changes to disclosure and barring which are available on the Home Office website. There are separate leaflets for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
