DBS and soft play

[Bareoness]

AIBU to have assumed that’s staff at soft play / play cafe places etc have a DBS?

I was at a party at one a few days ago and saw a petition this particular soft play had set up. The petition was to have this matter discussed in parliament in the hope of making it law. I’ve linked the petition.

I realise a basic DBS are only as good as the day it is granted and someone could go out and commit a crime the very next day and it won’t show, but surely that’s not a reason not to have them?

I also realise that in most cases you supervise your own child at these places. But I’m sure some of you will have been to these places and lost sight of your child for 5mins or they’ve legged it off to the loos without you knowing.

It just seems such a basic not to enforce and are t basic ones about £25 so not hugely costly (that said I realise small businesses are struggling).

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/748554?fbclid=IwY2xjawPJhzBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETB4a080Z3dlcUZPTThPVk1wc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvPIgJzX2ohxyYcY62gOJw_wOQhS0kRYnv08BZ5D-skg_qEyI57_fWz5DlkS_aem_X_--qj0nBTkapl-uVDTaug

AIBU - excessive and not needed.

Not unreasonable - seems sensible to have even if not foolproof.

DBS only tells you that the person has not been caught yet.

Relying on it in a soft play instead of supervising your own child is beyond ridiculous.

My NHS one was not renewed for 15 years neither was anyone else I had been working with long term.
If people changed jobs (even a promotion within the same department) they had to get a new one.
A friend retired from teaching but had to get a volunteer one done so she could help with a couple of big events taking a large group outside school.
At least the volunteer ones are free to the applicant and come back within the week.
What about the other parents at soft play - could be a man looking after his children and we all know from many MN threads that all men are perverts and wife beaters. Or the 17 year old who cannot get a DBS as still technically a child.

Well no because as I said a soft play is designed specifically for kids (with their adult also in attendance).

This is not about relying on a DBS instead of supervising your own child. It’s about the staff at a child based facility not being checked.

Yes, I agree that a DBS only tells you the person hasn’t been caught yet, but this isn’t about the flaws in the DBS system.

No it isnt. It actually has its business model based much more around parents sat drinking coffees spending money than it does on kids. Are you saying you think soft play areas should be for children only, with qualified and dbs checked staff? Would you pay for this, say £50+ per hour because what you are basically asking for is fully qualified childcare with soft play facilities.

Funnily enough my 16 year old does have a DBS as she volunteers with kids. They can be obtained.

And all those years I though soft plays were designed for the kids but actually it’s a coffee shop.

I disagree with you on that.

However, as I’ve said a couple of times now, I don’t have all the answers. Or any, it seems!

To answer your other point, no, that’s not what I expect. Ive not asked for them to be trained in childcare or trained in safeguarding. So, no, I’m not looking for childcare. When I go to these places I interact with my kids. I don’t expect the staff to do it for me.

I’ve previously responded to the point about other venues.

Annual checks seem pointless, as you could have someone with a 364 day old conviction. Someone mention update services but as Ive said, I do not have the answers. I was surprised, is all.

What is the point when none of the parents are DBS checked? It would give people a false sense of security.

So why do they need to be any more DBS checked than a shop assistant in the local spar. If you are there parenting your child its unnecessary

For reasons mentioned up thread.

I’m going to sign off from this one now - it seems, accordingly to Mumsnet and more than 60% of votes that I am being unreasonable.

Signing off as the same things (or at least very similar) keep being asked/mentioned.

And for one final time, I do supervise my kids.

DBS doesn’t mean no criminal convictions anyway. It would catch people banned from working with children (assuming softplay would count as a regulated activity, which I’m not sure about) , but other than that it’s up to the employer what they are comfortable with.

I'm not saying it would be impossible for another parent to abuse a child at softplay. But I do think it's significantly less likely than a member of staff doing so. In the picture you paint, I'd have to be not watching my child for an extensive period of time for this to happen. I wouldn't allow my child to chat extensively to another parent. I (and I think most parents) would be more at ease with my child talking to a member of staff who is in charge of the softplay/running an arts and craft class.

I didn't realise the softplay places in my area (West London if you're interested!) were so unusual. It's not just our most used one that is like this, they pretty much all have staff on hand supervising (not supervising the children as such, but regulating turns/safety on the drop slide/go karts/zip line). Two of our other local ones have a 'character' associated with them and they will come out and meet the kids periodically, this is obviously a member of staff in a suit. The children will approach them/hug them etc. so again contact that another parent wouldn't have. One had a member of staff playing Santa this year and again, children sitting on his lap etc.

I don't think DBS is necessary, but I think it's foolish to think that softplay staff are having the same level of contact with children as other parents (or supermarket staff as some people have said).

They're not supervising or alone with children so I guess that's why. I mean it could mean that any cafe or location where a parent with children comes in would need to dbs their staff.

But yeah I think it is responsible and good business practice for soft plays to do them.

I think it's foolish to think that softplay staff are having the same level of contact with children as other parents (or supermarket staff as some people have said).

Acknowledging that there's evidently some variation in what soft play staff do, it's pretty foolish to dismiss the idea out of hand.

The fact is that there'll be some supermarket staff who have just as much contact or more as some soft play staff. A parent with their toddler may very well spend more time loading their shopping at a staffed Tesco till than they do paying into the soft play. A child at soft play may never interact at all with a staff member whose only job is in the kitchen- one I used to go to had a dedicated chef. Levels of contact evidently vary.

You're of course right that it depends on the individual softplay.

I've (luckily) never been to a softplay where the staff are so hands-off. I can only comment from my own experience.

But I don't think there are ANY supermarkets where the staff would be expected to interact with children in the way that the staff at SOME softplay centres are. So on a national level, I think it's safe to say that softplay staff have more contact and more opportunities to take advantage of that contact with children than supermarket staff do.

I assume that the OP has been to similar style softplay places as I have.

Disagree. That would most jobs would need a dbs, shop staff etc

It's not safe to say that on a national level soft play staff as a cohort have more contact, because actually we have no idea how to verify that. Better to stick to what is actually known, ie that there are some soft play staff who surely have more contact with children than any supermarket worker would. It might make more sense for those with safeguarding concerns to focus on those roles.

Agree.

I don't think they need DBS checks anyway. But I do think people drawing equivalences with supermarket staff or cafe staff are potentially not aware of how much contact some softplay staff have with children. I would assume the person who started this petition, the OP and other concerned parties have been to similar softplay centres to me, where it would be insane to suggest that it's equivalent to working at Asda!

They don't need one. They are not providing care or responsible for the children, any more than the staff in Tesco are. That's your job to supervise your child.

You don't need a dbs unless you are caring for the children. Otherwise anyone who comes into contact with them would need one which would be shops, bus drivers, god knows what else.

That’s good to know @NuffSaidSam

I remember a thread on here were OP was proud of her DS getting job in an Amazon warehouse. He had to have a enhanced DBS, which makes no sense to me.

YABU - Staff at a soft play have no responsibility for supervising children. That’s your job as the parent.

So as the majority of posters don’t have an issue with staff not having DBS certificates as they have limited access to children in their opinion, would they have no issue with a convicted sex offender working in a soft play?