STAND-ALONE ENHANCED DBS SERVICE

If you hold a current passport (either from the UK or your own country), and would like to use this service please use this booking form:   http://www.normalewistraining.co.uk/course-forms/enhanced-dbs/

Leading London Nanny Agency Norma Lewis Nannies prefers that Families who employ a person to look after their children, home or an elderly relative, should protect the safety of those people by knowing that person holds a current enhanced DBS check, together with a status update certificate.
When a Family uses Norma Lewis Nannies to source their nannies, housekeepers, or companion for an elderly relative, this enhanced DBS check is offered as a matter of course.
N.B. A DBS is neither a legal requirement or obligation, (unless the Nanny is on the Ofsted Voluntary Register), “just a good thing to do”. (As quoted to Norma Lewis by Customer Services at the Disclosure and Barring Service).

Subsequently to launching this Enhanced DBS Check service, Norma Lewis Nannies has been approached by various people to help them obtain a check – housekeepers, tradesmen, people who run youth clubs…. all wish to show a potential employer that they have no criminal record and are entirely trustworthy.  This page continues to refer to Nannies, but the service is equally applicable to other personnel, providing that they are entitled to an enhanced DBS certificate.

But if you get a police check isn’t it the same thing as a DBS check?
In a word, no!
(Actually, the term “police check” is now obsolete in the UK, and has been replaced with “Disclosure”.)

So what does a disclosure show then?
The Disclosure service provides access to a range of different types of information, such as that:
•    held on the Police National Computer (PNC) – convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings in England, Wales and those recorded from Scotland and Northern Ireland.
•    held by local police forces relating to non-conviction information
•    from the Government’s protection of Children Act List (POCA)  (i.e. is the person on the list barring them from working with children)
•    from the Government’s Protection of Vulnerable Adults List (POVA) i.e. is the person on the list barring them from working with vulnerable adults
•    held by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) under Section 142 of the  Education Act 2002. (Formerly known as List 99)

So can’t you send off for an enhanced disclosure for your potential future employee?
Again, in a word, no!
As a private individual, you can have access to a certain level of information, but under the Rehabilitation of offenders Act 1974, you cannot be given any information about any person’s spent and unspent convictions, as the Act says that:
• An individual has the right not to disclose these details.
• You do not have the right to ask the “exempted questions” regarding spent and unspent convictions.
• Neither can the applicant legally apply for themselves. (Section 56 of the Data Protection Act 1998)
However, those who work with children and with vulnerable adults are amongst those considered exempt from this Act, and the information concerning spent and unspent convictions would be shown on an enhanced disclosure.

When a Family chooses to find their own Nanny, or even a shortlist of Nannies, they are left in the position of being unable to apply for an enhanced DBS check for their applicants.
Additionally, they have no idea of how to verify references, or the sort of probing questions that should be asked.

Norma Lewis Nannies believes that a Child’s safety comes before anything, and that any person employed to look after children should hold an enhanced DBS if possible, and have their references checked, no matter how that person is sourced.
Therefore when a Client approaches me for my professional opinion on whether they should employ that Nanny, and whether they are a suitable fit for their Family, I am happy to discuss the DBS service and  reference checking service that my Agency can offer that Client.

Please note:
1)    It is important to realise that the potential Nanny must still give permission to have the results of her enhanced disclosure passed on. This is not automatic, and the Nanny has the right to refuse.
2)    Additionally, as soon as the DBS comes through, the Nanny / potential employee should then register for the Status update available for her DBS. This needs to be done within 30 days of the issue date of the DBS. WITHOUT THIS STATUS UPDATE SERVICE, THE DBS IS ONLY A SNAPSHOT IN TIME, AND YOU WOULD HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF SOMETHING UNTOWARDS HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE DATE OF IT’S ISSUE.
Providing that this status update certificate is renewed annually, you / your Nanny will never again need to complete a new DBS application.
3) N.B. If  you / the potential employee is either Ofsted Registered, or planning to become Ofsted registered , an enhanced DBS together with Status Update is a normal part of your / their Ofsted Registration
Fees:
Stand-alone Service : £25 Agency Fee (+ £56 cost of enhanced DBS check.)