Parents will be able to get Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks when hiring private tutors, carers and therapists, among others. This will give them greater peace of mind that the people they let through their front door will not have a history of abusing vulnerable people. Under the current system, only those working for an organisation, such as a school or hospital, could request this information.
This change comes good on one of Professor Alexis Jay’s recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse – to make greater use of the Disclosure and Barring Service barred list to save children and vulnerable people from the horrors of abuse. It will come into effect from January 2026.
Minister for Prisons, Probation, and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson, said
Enhanced DBS checks provide clear, reliable information about individuals’ backgrounds, helping families and personal employers identify risks and keep those with harmful intentions far away from children and vulnerable adults.
Protecting the vulnerable, tackling abuse and standing up for victims is absolutely paramount to our Plan for Change.
Before this change, self-employed or personal employees could only access Basic DBS checks which only show unspent convictions and cautions.
This is the latest step the government has taken to deliver on Professor Jay’s recommendations to better protect vulnerable children. The government is also bringing in mandatory reporting of child sex abuse and looking at how therapeutic support can help victims rebuild their lives.
Under this government, convictions for child sex abusers are at their highest ever levels and the police are looking again at more than 1,200 closed cases, including more than 200 cases of rape.
Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said
We must use every lever at our disposal to protect children and other vulnerable people in our society from harm.
These measures, which respond directly to Professor Jay’s recommendation, will put more power in the hands of parents to vet anyone working closely with their children, even if they are freelance or self-employed.
Further information
- This measure amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and will come into effect in January 2026.
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Enhanced DBS checks with a check of the barred list(s) are used for more sensitive roles working with children or vulnerable adults and are the highest-level DBS check available. They include spent and unspent convictions and cautions (subject to filtering rules), any police information considered relevant and proportionate to disclose by a chief officer, and whether the individual has been barred from working with children or adults.
- Under the Crime and Policing Bill, relevant roles will be eligible for the highest level of DBS checks, whether they are supervised or not.
