When recruiting seasonal staff, you need to make sure you’re carrying out the right DBS checks. Whether it’s Santa, an elf, or just extra staff to help cover over the festive season, having the right DBS Checks in place can help protect you, your business and the public.

Tory councillors in East Devon have recently had their plans to change rules about DBS Checks rejected. For anyone who knows anything about DBS Checks this is not surprising at all. In this article, we look at exactly why they’ve failed to push their plans through.

Thanks to the pandemic, many people are looking to tutoring companies to help their children. Private tuition is a sparsely regulated industry but there are things to do that can help you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to best practice. In this guide, we look at the key things private tuition firms should pay attention to.

This week is International Fraud Awareness Week. It is estimated that employee fraud in the UK costs businesses as much as 5% of their annual turnover. Small or medium enterprises are also more at risk than larger firms. In this article, we look at what you can do to help prevent employee fraud.

Flexible and hybrid working isn’t going away. Following the pandemic, office workers have realised that they are more than able to manage their work more flexibly than before. If you’re trying to adopt flexible or hybrid working on a more permanent basis, these tips can help

New statutory guidance for firearms licence applications comes into effect from today. Social media and credit checks are just some of the new background checks recommended for chief officers to carry out when assessing the suitability of applicants for licences.

Automated hiring is often touted as a foolproof way to reduce admin times for HR teams and those responsible for recruitment within an organisation. Research is starting to show that this isn’t always the case. Automated hiring could actually be hindering your recruitment.

With the number of job vacancies close to the one million mark, employers are becoming desperate to recruit. But with employment fraud a growing concern, it’s essential that you aren’t recruiting inappropriate people for your vacant roles. Background screening can help prevent any fallout from a bad hire.

A former Conservative mayor for Exmouth has recently been convicted for historic abuse. In response, local councillors are calling for mandatory DBS Checks to be standard practice for anyone hoping to become a councillor. While that may sound logical, mandating checks could be illegal.

In our ongoing commitment to provide comprehensive screening solutions for our customers, Personnel Checks are pleased to announce that we are now a fully registered Umbrella Body for Disclosure Scotland. We can now provide solutions for all levels of Scottish Disclosure Checks as well as applications to the PVG Scheme.

In recent weeks, a Birmingham transport firm have lost multiple council contracts after failings were discovered in their DBS compliance. Over 50 drivers were found to have not had the appropriate checks carried out despite regularly transporting SEND children to and from school.

Each year the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) publish figures of their annual performance including barring figures. Barring is a vital aspect of the DBS’ mission to safeguard the UK public from harm. In the report this year, they’ve revealed that the number of individuals on the barred lists has grown by over 4000.

With UK children spending more and more time online, knowing how to safeguard them properly is always a concern. When it comes to protecting young people in online spaces, even if you think you’re tech-savvy it can be hard to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together these tips.

Campaigners recently welcomed the news that a government review is to be launched into a legal loophole that allows sex offenders to change their names and effectively disappear from the eyes of the law. This means that previous offences might not be disclosed on DBS Checks, allowing dangerous individuals to work with children or vulnerable adults.

Football Banning Orders (FBOs) were first introduced in 2000. These orders are issued to prevent violence and disorder relating to football matches and tournaments. In response to the abuse from a vocal minority online, following the Euro 2020 finals, the government have committed to extending the guidance to include online abuse.

People appearing on reality TV or game shows are often subject to a range of background checks. The Sun recently reported that contestants on ITV’s Love Island are subject to DBS Checks. In the article, they compare the checks to the ones carried out on education staff, which isn’t quite right!

Whether employers have a right to look into a candidate or employees social media history has proven to be a contentious topic. Regardless of your opinion on these checks, the recent scandal involving a high-level member of Google’s diversity team and some historic antisemitic tweets proves their importance.

Following the deletion of huge numbers of criminal records on the Police National Computer (PNC) an independent inquiry urged the government to update the ‘inflexible’ system. The Home Office hopes to launch the new Law Enforcement Data (LED) system by 2023.

Two schools in Scotland recently had to escort agency cleaners from the premises due to not having the correct background checks completed. In the UK, school staff, whether employed full-time or via an agency require some of the highest level of criminal record checks available to ensure that students aren’t exposed to dangerous individuals.

Personnel Checks are proud to support care organisations across the UK with their screening and safeguarding needs. After an incredibly difficult year for the sector, awareness weeks like this are important for raising the visibility of the amazing work care staff do day-in-day-out.