DBS wait times- Kent

[Reelin]

Morning all
Just wondering if anyone in the Kent area has had an enhanced DBS come through fairly quickly recently? Am hearing horrendous stories of delays of months and am just at the beginning of this journey!?

8 months on the longest one we are waiting for.

but one also came back within 3 days

My last one was 24 hours… that was a month ago

Gosh there is a huge difference in waiting time isn't there? Wouldn't mind but I have 2 on the update service and new one still requested from prospective employer!

I had a delay of 9 months, however, I rang HQ, asked to speak to the DBS department explained my situation and a lovely lady (who kept calling me ma'am) said, "oh, I'll do it for you now". And she did!!

9 months that's crazy, why so long, there cannot be a good reason for that long surely!?

Tbf I have convictions on mine but it was ridiculous

The DBS are not fit for purpose. I work adjacent to them. Wait times vary wildly. If you have convictions or ‘other relevant information’ it will take longer as it needs to be processed by the local police too

I waited 8 months and had to get MP involved. No convictions or anything. Awful service!

But even so there is nothing complicated about that! They go on the certificate it doesn't cause any additional work!

Agree, also hearing of people with no information waiting months! People must be losing job offers over this??

8 months is inexcusable, how can the police justify this, it is absolutely ridiculous!

Waited 2 weeks for mine

They didn’t justify it. Just got excuse after excuse. The MP was really good though. Had the DBS within a week but it cost me a job I wanted and ended up getting one that I hated. I’ve lasted 3 months in that job and luckily have asked the previous company and they’ve offered me a job. I’ve made sure I’m registered with the update service so hopefully no more bother when I need to renew it.

That's great, i am at 2 weeks already and have never had one back quickly unfortunately! Good to know some people are getting them back though.

This is my worry tbh, this is my third one in under 3 years and never done quickly! Missed out on a job aswell a few years before because of delay! I have the last 2 on the update service but new job wants a fresh one to even start. Makes the update service pointless in some respects and just adds to the back log unnecessarily, I think all companies should have to use the update service especially seeing as local police forces cannot provide the level of service required for a smooth turnover.

I've always been lucky and had mine through relatively quick. Apparently how many addresses you have had can effect the time scale!

It can be if there are two people with similar names, d.o.b etc. I had one prospective member of staff who had to get his finger prints done by local.policr to prove he wasn't the other person.

Police can also cause the holdup rather than DBS particularly if someone has lived in several force areas as it gets passed from one to another.

Time of year can also be an issue so lots of schools doing recruitment for next term, new nurses doctors graduating and going for first jobs although that was worse when CRB/DBS first started.

My last one 10 months!

one applied for at same time 4 months.

Current one 3 months.

That’s Hampshire.

No idea why mine seem to keep taking forever as have no convictions or barred things and no other relevant information.

I have had 2-3 DBS’ at a time for years but it’s only the last 3 that take forever!

I’m waiting anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months.

Yes, i guess there are alot of potential issues but seems not enough improvements at the police level to speed up the wait time. I am just very anxious about whether prospective employers are sympathetic to this and willing to wait, it seems very unfair on people who just want to work and completely out of their hands!
Both my previous ones were beginning of June also, so heading into summer recruiting time.

Luckily my address history is all in the same town so hopefully that may help, fingers crossed

Exactly the same here, there seems no rhyme or reason to it at all, just luck. That's so unfair though, there has to be a better way of doing things!

I’m Midlands and have just taken on a volunteer role to do DBS checks. I did the first one last week, submitted it mid morning and was surprised for it to come back by that evening 🤷‍♀️

if you don’t mind me hijacking your thread slightly, what’s the update service? I’ve seen mention of it in the literature I’ve inherited, but not sure what it does??

Well that used to help when I did them. It was hell for recent graduates with home address, then halls, then a house share, maybe different house share, then graduate and back home, then get their new address, if you live close to the border of two forces it can have multiple places to get stuck.

The police don't have enough resources, they get criticised for not enough officers on the streets, not investigating enough crimes so maybe a DBS isn't top of the pile if they are struggling.

That's great, shows how quickly it can be done doesn't it! Perhaps we could do with some extra help down here in Kent!
Regarding the update service, once you receive your enhanced dbs certificate back you have 28 days to register it with the update service, who the store your details/certificate for an annual fee. Any new information is added to it, it if you get arrested/ charged for an offence. The idea is you can allow prospective employers to view it so you don't need to go through the process of getting another one, especially if it is a job in the same workforce area, for example- child workforce! A great idea but it is not being used properly, should have potentially improved service and backlogs!