DBS checks are just a way for someone to make money

[Bitteroldshrew]

I have 5 active DBS certificates for various organisations. Every one requires the same information and the same rigmarole to complete. Every organisation requires their own DBS.

I am currently having to complete my 6th DBS despite having only had one done last month. This one is going to cost me £65 for the privilege and is another trip to the post office to get all my documents verified. A total waste of my time and money when they know already that I am safe to work with children as they've already checked it 5 times in the last 3 years and all of these are on record.

Who the hell comes up with this shit.

Are you not registered for the DBS update service? You don't need a separate DBS for everything if you're registered they can check your DBS online.

I thought it was a one and done thing unless it’s due for a renewal.

This - DD has had a series of temporary/casual/part time jobs as a student. She registered for the update service with her first job that required a DBs and now she just gives a code whenever another one wants one done.

Register for the DBS update service, I believe there is a small annual fee but it's less than paying for a full DBS check.

But why don't they do that automatically for everyone?

The biggest absurdity about DBS checks is that they don't actually 'prove' someone is safe to work with vulnerable people - they only check a person hasn't at the time of the check got a record. They also don't go cover time spent abroad, so if someone has a record abroad - DBS don't know.

Not anymore, a DBS has to be completed for each instance it is needed.

Update service all the way. It's a few quid a year. When you get your next DBS register it ASAP, as you have a limited time to do so.

Nope! Each new job or volunteer role requires one.

I have a live dbs, I've just got a new job and can start with it but they want me to do theirs when I asked why as I had a perfectly valid live one . The answer I got was because people forget to renew ?????????

I've just had a DBS check done for one thing that has been accepted for another thing because I joined the update service. But you have to join the update service within a month of getting the DBS certificate.

Then OP is right, it does sound like a way to extort money.
I used to have the old style ones (CRB I think they were called) and they were just done every few years. I assumed DBS would be the same. Apologies.

I had to have multiple CRBs done - one for school volunteering, one for chaperoning my DDs dance show and one for helping with cubs. I don't think it's new. You couldn't join the update service with CRBs though - that is an improvement.

Not all organisations accept the Update service.

is using the update service not an option -https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

The Update service has just gone up to£16 per year, after years of a £13 fee. If an employer applied and paid for it sometimes they have not handed it over to me as "their document" in their opinion. I then volunteered for the Guides but their DBS organiser reused to listen to me explain about my Update. Insisted on a new application at a cost of £44 to the organisation. However, every employer has accepted the Update system.

Yeah DBS update service is the answer to this problem.

I have several recent DBS checks myself but I am also someone who refers in to DBS and a new one is needed for each role because the decision making on what needs to be disclosed is different for each role.

A fraud conviction would be relevant if someone was applying for a job in a bank but perhaps not if applying for a job as a janitor in a school. A child sex offence conviction would be relevant to a school janitor but not to a job cleaning the bank after hours.

Ditto in my role we make referrals to the barring part of DBS - often that's because someone has done something that's unpleasant to a vulnerable person but not at a level a criminal conviction would follow. You wouldn't want them working with vulnerable people again so whilst that information would be disclosed if they applied for a job as a carer it probably wouldn't be disclosed to the employer if they applied for a job stacking shelves.

That's why it's role specific.

DBS checks for volunteers are free so pp who have paid for one shouldn't have been asked to pay. I'm a safeguarding officer for grassroot sport so do a lot of DBS paperwork and have four of my own, and yes there's lots that is bonkers with the system.

I'm on the update service but many places I work still ask for another specifically for them. Luckily, they usually pay for it so it doesn't worry me but, as a freelancer, it has slowed down new work opportunities from time ti time while they wait for it to arrive.

hatgirl

The update service is not accepted for the majority of the organisations I work with. I do a mix of volunteering and some paid (mostly the former) for the latest one which is why they want £65.00.

However, all of my DBS are for the same category of workforce so it should be specific to that rather than the organisation.

You can apply for police checks abroad in a similar way to a DBS check. It's easier when you live abroad to get one before you return than to realise you need one after you've left though! I have one from 5y spent living abroad, and DBS check on the update service for the UK. My job requires it, no gaps.

@Bitteroldshrew you'll only need more than one DBS if the first one you got wasn't at the right level for what you need the next one for, e.g. if the first one was a standard one and the next you need is an enhanced one.

Definitely get on the update service for £13 a year to renew.

I have the update service. The organisations I work with don't generally accept it.

If you don't appreciate the requirement for the DBS checks you SHOULDNT BE IN A JOB THAT REQUIRES ONE.

Get on the update service. Or question why an employer is asking you to pay for your own check. Any company working with vulnerable adults or children should be diligent enough to pay for the checks.

Fml.

My organisation processes hundreds of DBS checks every year. We don't subscribe to the update service as it relies on the holder to make an annual payment and we can't guarantee they will. But the one we do is good for OUR requirements.

I think you missed where I said I have FIVE active DBS already. All at the same level and all for the same type of workforce. You also seem to have missed where I said the UPDATE SERVICE IS NOT ACCEPTED.

fml indeed - if only people could actually read.

Great, so you have 5 active DBS. They're only valid on the day they're completed. I have a folder at home with more than that in of my own, the majority for child workforce, and each place I've worked has required a new one because they need to be sure that I've not been a wrong'un since my last one.

It's good standard practice for employers to undertake their own checks. And I can appreciate that they might not be signed up for the update service, but I'd be questioning why you're being asked to pay for one - if it's a requirement of your work it should be paid for, like PPE or first aid training.

None of the places I've worked or volunteered have asked me to pay for my own check, including for a one-night sleepover at Brownies as a parent helper. Indeed you can apply for a free DBS if your role is purely voluntary.

I would question the diligence of any provider that didn't undertake their own checks.

Specific to each organisation but I dont know why you are expected to pay for your own when they want to employ you, shouldn't they be applying for it and paying? DBS checks IMHO should be refreshed as they can be out of date the day they are checked. Someone who was checked 3 months ago could have had a conviction in that time.