Personnel Checks Business Continuity Plan

Page last updated: 09.07.2020

In light of the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, we’d like to inform you what steps Personnel Checks Ltd is undertaking to safeguard our employees and make every effort to maintain DBS & Background Checking service levels for our customers.

We would like to reassure you that the business is currently operating as normal and all Advisors remain contactable as usual, however following the latest guidance from the Government, Personnel Checks has taken the decision that all employees will work remotely from 18th March 2020.

As the situation develops over the coming weeks, there are likely to be changes to our services or the DBS checking process. The page will keep you informed of the latest changes you need to know about. 

Continuity of Personnel Checks Services

Personnel Checks is aiming to maintain a full service where reasonably practicable, however given the current situation, ask that customers and applicants bear with us during this period if you experience any delays.

The DBS have also informed us they have a Business Continuity Management (BCM) Policy that applies to all parts of DBS to plan for and respond to incidents and disruptions.

How to contact Personnel Checks

We would like to reassure all Personnel Checks customers and applicants that our advisors will remain contactable as normal. You can get in touch with us using the usual methods:

Applicant Engagement Team
01254 355681
applicants@personnelchecks.co.uk


Customer Experience Team
01254 355651
letstalk@personnelchecks.co.uk


Taxi Licensing Team
01254 355679
hello@taxiplus.co.uk

 

Please DO NOT send anything to us via post

We can no longer accept any ID documents in the post.

We are aware that some of our applicant instructions offer post as an option to send ID documents for the ID verification process. We ask that customers and applicants do not send any documents to us by post.

Instead, please use the alternative methods outlined in our applicant instructions emails:

Temporary changes to ID verification guidance from 19th March 2020

Please note: a previous version of this update advised that changes were being made to ID guidance for Standard and Enhanced DBS Checks only. However, these changes have now been extended to Basic DBS Checks as of 24th March 2020.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the DBS understand that checking and verifying ID documents face to face will be difficult. Therefore, temporary changes have been made to the ID checking guidance for DBS check applications. This should only be implemented for urgent cases where it is not possible to follow the normal identity checking guidelines.

What are the changes?
The current guidelines state that ID Verifiers must be in physical possession of original ID documents, however this has been temporarily changed and ID Verifiers will now be able to verify ID documents via one of the following methods;

  • Use scanned images of original ID documents

  • View original ID documents via video link (i.e. Skype or Facetime)

How do these changes affect you?
At the moment, ID documents do not need to be seen by the ID Verifier in person. Applicants can simply show their original ID documents to their designated ID Verifier via one of the above methods.

Post Office ID Verification
Applicants no longer need to visit a Post Office to have ID documents verified. Instead they can scan and email, or send pictures of their ID documents to Personnel Checks by either:

 Changes to DBS Contact Centre opening hours

In order to maximise availability and to ensure they have sufficient staff on hand to deal with incoming customer calls, whilst still offering a high standard of service to customers, the DBS have made changes to their opening hours.

Previous opening hoursOpening hours as of 14th October 2020Monday to Friday: 8am - 6pmMonday to Friday: 9am - 5pmSaturday: 10am - 5pmSaturday: Closed

If you have a general enquiry, you can still contact the DBS via:

You can also track your application online:

  • Online tracking for basic DBS checks, here

  • Online tracking for standard and enhanced DBS checks, here

DBS Contact Centre temporarily closed

Due to an ongoing issue following the coronavirus outbreak, the DBS Contact Centre will be closed temporarily. The DBS will be constantly reviewing the situation and aim to reopen the Contact Centre as soon as possible. All updates will be communicated via GOV.UK and Twitter.

If you have a general enquiry while the Contact Centre is temporarily unavailable, you can still contact the DBS via the channels listed above. 

DBS Announce Fast-Track Adult & Child Barred List Checks

As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of staff moving into key sectors, such as health, social care and volunteering.

In an attempt to support the national effort against beating the coronavirus, the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) has implemented temporary measures to ensure that pre-employment criminal record checks can be completed as quickly as possible.

DBS Contact Centre reopen

On 24.03.2020 the DBS informed us that their contact centre was temporarily closed. As of 30.03.2020, the DBS Contact Centre reopened still with the amended opening hours due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We trust that the above information is helpful and thank you for your understanding and co-operation. We will of course continue to take advice from the Government and keep this page updated as the situation unfolds.

If you have any further questions regarding our service levels during the Coronavirus outbreak, please contact the appropriate Personnel Checks team.