Enhanced DBS Stuck at stage 4 for nearly 60 days!

[ArgoBargo]

Hi all,

I volunteer with school and scouts and my colleagues DBS checks tend to come back in a week while mine usually take about a month. I have the DBS update service with school but Scouts require a new check every five years.

I put in a few subject access requests after my last school new check in 2021 to try to understand why my checks consistently take longer than other people's but didn't get anything useful back.

For my scouts renewal I applied on the 27th of February but the application seems have been stuck at stage 4 - with the police - since the 8th of February! I've had to step back from scouting because my 5 years renewal date came and went on the 30th of March.

I tried calling 101 but they referred me to the DBS helpline which terminates with an answer machine. This whole thing is making me feel deeply paranoid. I have had diagnosed anxiety for most of my life and have come into police contact through this a couple of times where I've become very distressed in public but both of those incidents happened over ten years ago, neither led to a fine, caution or charges (the police are very fair and caring, to be fair) and I've had at least six enhanced blank DBS checks since, to be a magistrate, kids football coach, school and scouts without them taking so, so long!

I know that most people get them back in days but has anyone else out there had to wait this long? It's ruining my peace of mind!

Hubby says he has the update service and just hands his number over so they would be able to look at online so not sure why you're going through this process?

Not all organisations use the update service, which is stupid because it enables employers to regularly rather than periodically check for changes, but nonetheless some organisations don't use it perhaps because they don't understand it.

I've used the update service in exactly the way your husband has a couple of times with organisations that use it - my daughter's high school for example.

I process DBS applications at work via uCheck. We've been told we can't even query the DBS office unless an application has been stuck at one stage for 90 days.

I've had applications come back within hours and others take weeks to come back as clear, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it all!

I had one for a volunteer recently stuck at Stage 4 for over 100 days. I work for a charity and so asked our head office to chase it up with the external organisation concerned. They admitted that they had a huge backlog and then processed it immediately, so the DBS certificate was actually issued 2 days later. Somebody, somewhere needs to make a fuss.....

I wonder if it had anything to do with the police having to revet all their staff? Perhaps people are being diverted to do that rather than DBS checks.

I think you can poke them after 90 days.

I had this a number of years back. I put two DBSs in (or CRB as they were then) within a fortnight. the first came back in about 5 days, the second had to be poked to get them to finish it after 90 days.

Subsequently my CRBs took typically ages. I asked why this was and was told there was probably someone with a similar/same name who got convicted in that time between the two, so my CRB would be popped out as one they needed to check more thoroughly to check it wasn't them. Once they'd popped out, they took ages because they were bottom of a huge pile.

Now they seem to go through in a couple of weeks typically, whether that's because it's become more efficient or because their charge was overturned/spent or whatever.
Unfortunately there wasn't a lot I could do about it, except make sure I applied for renewals in plenty of time.

Update on this - I escalated this with the DBS via the tracking service on Sunday the 9th of April, which was 60 days after it was sent to the police.

I was shown a pop-up message saying that the DBS would now write to the police asking them to complete the checks in 10 working days and that, if the status hasn't changed to 'in progress' in that time frame then to call the DBS (though that seems to be an answer machine only number!).

It's now Saturday the 15th and the status is unchanged at 'Stage 4: In Progress'.
.

It seems to be taking an age OP. My sisters just took 4 months! She has been waiting to start a job with the Nhs since December when they offered her the role. She now has her start date but what a carry on.

At least it isn't just me! Do you know which region / police force she would have been under? This can make a difference.

Update: On the 22st of April, almost three months after I'd submitted the application and having been stuck at Stage 4 for about 70 days, my Enhanced DBS finally came through!

My dbs has been stuck at stage 4 in sheffield for 5 weeks now, from 29th March 23, frustrating isn't in it

Yes, it is and it affects people's ability to work. People have lost job offers and been seriously out of pocket because of it.

I understand the need for these checks but the process for running them needs to be more efficient and resourced appropriately.

I have submitted my DBS check on the 17th of March still on Stage 4. I have called DBS helpline unfortunately they haven't got any access on the system so told me to wait for their phone within next 48 hours with an update. No phone no update still waiting for over 7 weeks now. My last DBS was done last year may 2022. Joke all updated but still talking forever getting frustrated and stressed about the outcome.

Begum2016 - I completely understand how you feel - I was there about a month ago. It is wrong that the process is allowed to drag on so long but there isn't really anything we can do about it.

Reading between the lines I think that things are taking so much longer because the same people who do the DBS checks in the police have been diverted to vetting their own forces.

Put it to one side until it has been at stage 4 for 60 days and then escalate.

I've been having DBS checks for ever
My last one took much longer., stuck at stage 4. I'd had 3 addresses in a year while moving house and assumed it was that

Hiya, mine has finally gone through to stage 5 after I escalated it after it being stuck on stage 4 for over 2 months! Problem is, they're now taking a long time to even print it! It's been on stage 5 and in progress for a week now :( it's so frustrating. And each time I call DBS, the operators all say something different. It's given me really bad anxiety xx

I've recently moved cities and my DBS has been an absolute nightmare! I'm guessing it must be the address change too as 2 different police forces now have to check through. I cannot believe they don't get a move on and we have to actually wait for 2 months or more to escalate it! So lazy! There has to be a better way of doing this right??

@Begum2016 any update on your application sis?

Hi i have called DBS customer service they said they have escalated. Still on Stage 4. How long does it take after escalation?

@Begum16 it took 3-4 days. But I kept chasing in between :( and now it's stuck in stage 5!!

They have said they escalated yesterday.

So after you have made escalation you had to chase aa well thanks in advance

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. I volunteer with a a couple of organisations plus my job needed an enhanced DBS so I have had so many of the things over the years that I could paper room with them, and there's no dark secrets in my past so I knew there was no reason for delays. Several other volunteers had done their renewal at the same time as me and had them back within a fortnight but there was no sign of mine. It had to have got lost in the system, there was no other logical explanation. But as others have said, it was nigh on impossible to get through to DBS and when I did they said there was nothing they could do once it was with the police and that they weren't allowed to ask the police to investigate until it had been with them for some ridiculously long time, 90 days rings a bell but I could have made that bit up! So I tried phoning the local police station and got the "Covid backlog" excuse, though they couldn't explain why I was affected by the backlog but my fellow volunteer who even lives in the same postcode as me wasn't. It was incredibly frustrating.
In the end, I found an email address for the county Crime and Policing Commissioner and wrote saying I realised that it probably wasn't within his remit but that I didn't know where to turn and that our voluntary organisation was going to suffer if my DBS didn't arrive soon so could he help. I got a reply from one of his team within hours saying they'd look into it and the certificate arrived 3 days later.
I'm sure thats not the approved way to resolve problems but it worked for me and might be worth others considering if they are hitting brick walls everywhere.

Good morning, have been googling about DBS taking so long and came across your post. My DBS is on week 6 with sussex police. I've lost the job I was offered but the company offered me a diff job diff area. Seems shocking that it takes so long and I'm struggling with money/rent but u can't do hardship unless in rent areas which I'm not as pay rent first and council tax and let other stuff go in debt. Sorry for rent 🙈

The reason it can take so long is essentially that it's not a particularly efficient process, it is under resourced (too few people, too little investment in making the system faster) and because while it has very significant negative effect on a small number of people, those people are too few and too politically insignificant to cause a change to the above underlying causes. Another reason to stay away from public service, sadly.