What is a Disclosure? A Disclosure is a document which contains information about an individual's criminal record, if they have one. Disclosures are available to employers and voluntary organisations if they employ people for roles where having a criminal record may affect an applicant's suitability, such as roles working with children or vulnerable adults, or jobs in the security business. Life Opportunities is registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service to act as an Umbrella Body, enabling us to provide our clients with Standard and Enhanced Disclosures. We also offer Basic Disclosures through Disclosure Scotland. For more information on Basic Disclosures, please go here. Choosing Your Level Access to an individual's criminal record history is legally restricted by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that employers can only apply for Disclosures if the work that they are employing people to do is listed in the exemptions to the Act. You can find information on which roles are exempt at the DBS website. The rules are unfortunately complicated, so if you aren't completely certain whether you are entitled to Disclosures, please contact us and we'd be happy to discuss it with you. If you are not entitled to ask your staff to apply for Standard or Enhanced Disclosures, but you still want the security that a criminal record check brings, then you can ask your staff to apply for a Basic Disclosure. |
Standard Disclosures Standard Disclosures contain information held on the Police National Computer, including details of all convictions and any cautions, reprimands or final warnings. This level of disclosure is intended for those who do not work with children or vulnerable adults, but who work in situations where their employer needs to be certain they don't have a criminal history. Enhanced Disclosures In addition to the information provided in a Standard Disclosure, Enhanced Disclosures include records held by local police forces. For applicants working with children or vulnerable adults, they also include a check against the lists of people banned from working with these groups. This level of disclosure is primarily intended for those working with children or vulnerable adults. DBS Adult First This is an additional service specifically for care homes, who often struggle to keep staffing levels high enough and cannot wait for a Disclosure to come back before a new staff member starts work. This service allows the results of one specific portion of the full Disclosure - the check against the list of those barred from working with vulnerable adults - to be released to the employer early. With a clear check against the list, the employer can then legally and safely start their employee before the full Disclosure is returned. |
