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Safer Recruitment & DBS

Training and Events Safeguarding Team

Frequently Asked Questions

Safer Recruitment and People Management

The Church of England is committed to safeguarding as an integral part of its ministry and mission, promoting a safer culture and the welfare of every child, young person and adult. As such, the Church has robust policies, procedures and guidelines in place, including Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance.

What is Safer Recruitment and People Management?

The Church of England’s safeguarding policy statement ‘Promoting a Safer Church 2017’ outlines the Church’s commitment to promoting a safe environment and culture across all Church bodies for children and vulnerable adults. An essential part of this commitment is ensuring that all those who work or volunteer with vulnerable groups are suitable for the role they will carry out.

One way in which the Church aims to fulfil the above commitment is by following ‘safer recruitment’ processes and ensuring continued vigilance once someone is in role. Obtaining a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Certificate is only one element of ‘safer recruitment’ processes. The reality is that many people who have abused or will abuse in positions of trust do not have a criminal record. Therefore, the wider process of ‘safer recruitment’ is an essential part of the Church of England’s approach to safeguarding.

Since its guidance ‘Practise Guidance: Safer Recruitment’, was first published in 2015, the Church of England has continued to review and update the policies and associated guidance to ensure good practice across the forty-two dioceses, including ours here in Hereford. The current guidance, which came into force in January 2022, is ‘Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance’. A training module for this guidance is available on the NST training portal.

How do I access the training module?

To assist in the implementation of Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance, an online ‘Safer Recruitment’ e-Learning module has been developed. All those listed below are required to complete the module. It can also be completed by anyone else for whom it is deemed relevant and for anyone who would like to increase their understanding of safer recruitment.

- Line Managers/ Supervisors

- Anyone involved in the recruitment of Church Officers (employees, elected members, and volunteers)

- Parish Safeguarding Officers, Representatives and DBS administrators

- Ordinands during IME 1

It is a simple and relatively short course that produces a certificate of completion that can be saved in an individual’s personal file as evidence of competency when involved in recruitment. The module is available on the National Safeguarding Training portal. If you are a new user of the portal you will need to follow the on-screen instructions to register and create an account. Once you have logged in, click on the tab that says ‘Courses’, then select the ‘Toolkit Pathways’, then select the ‘Safer Recruitment and People Management’ module. Once completed, please save and/or print a copy of your training certificate for your records and notify your Parish Safeguarding Officer or your Parish Priest so they can keep a record of your training achievements. If you experience problems logging into the online training portal for your training please send an email to the National Safeguarding Team Training Helpdesk.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

Safer Recruitment and People Management is an integral part of keeping people safe in the Church. Some church roles, paid and unpaid, are eligible for a criminal records check, known as a DBS check, from the UK government agency, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

In our diocese, DBS checks are now made using an online checking process. The diocese has contracted with a third-party ‘umbrella’ organisation to provide online DBS checks. If anyone does not have online facilities to do this at home, The Diocesan Safeguarding Team will work with the Parish Safeguarding Officer or parish clergy to provide the necessary support and overcome any barriers.

Obtaining a DBS certificate along with the preceding self-assessed Confidential Declaration Form (CDF), helps the Church to make informed recruitment decisions, and prevent unsuitable people from working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

More detailed information can be found in the Safer Recruitment and People Management guidance.

The Diocesan Safeguarding Team are on hand to assist you regarding this please do feel free to contact us if you have any queries. The first point of contact for DBS enquiries is the Diocesan Safeguarding Administrator who can be reached by e-mail at DBSAdmin@hereford.anglican.org or telephone on 014323 73317.

How to request a DBS check

Every time someone in your parish needs a DBS check the Parish Safeguarding Officer or the Parish/Benefice Incumbent will need to email DBSAdmin@hereford.anglican.org requesting the DBS check with the following information:

  1. The person’s legal surname and first name(s)
  2. The person’s email address
  3. What are their job/role title(s)? (Please list any other Parish roles they currently hold) Are they paid or unpaid?
  4. If they are working with children or young people,
    • will they be working with them weekly or more than 3 times in any one 30-day period?
    • will they be unsupervised when working with them?
    • will they be a leader who is supervising others who are working with them?
  5. Will they be working in a group that is specifically for vulnerable adults?
  6. What Parish/Benefice will they be based in?
  7. Your name and email address
  8. Has the CofE Safer Recruitment process been completed?
  9. Is their CDF fully completed and clear of blemishes?
  10. Is an overseas check needed? (Question 8 on the CDF)
  11. Name and email address of their ID verifier

If you need any help answering questions 4 or 5, please contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team who can help. If you have a number of requests to make, you may find it helpful to complete your request in a table, which you can download as a Word Document here. The first entry in green text is an example.

Please wait until you can answer each question or complete each box before sending the request, as we will not be able to begin the process without all the necessary information.

The next step will be for the Diocesan Safeguarding Administrator to send the person an e-mail with details of how they can begin their online DBS application. Once the person has made their online application, their ID verifier will receive instructions for completing the online DBS application by with an identity document check.

Please do feel free to contact us if you have any queries.

Why we are asking for this information

The Diocesan Safeguarding Team are looking at ways to increase the efficiency of the DBS application process and so now we are asking all people making a DBS request to supply all the information needed at the very start of the process. It will reduce the amount of time the Diocesan Safeguarding Administrator has to spend seeking information.

- The applicants legal name and their email address so we can accurately identify them in our records, and we can contact them direct.

- The roles they are fulfilling, and it is helpful to see the applicant’s role description, unless it is an established role like Churchwarden, PCC Member or Parish Safeguarding Officer. The role description needs to provide clear details of whether the individual will be working with children and/or vulnerable adults, and how often. Thie enables us to consider if it is possible for us to use one DBS check for all their roles, rather than them have to complete multiple checks in a short period of time.

- We will also ask questions about any work they may do with children, young people or vulnerable adults. This helps us to assess the correct level of check and whether we need to add in barred list checks to their DBS check. Please consider all their roles when answering the questions. If necessary, we may come back to you to ask further questions.

- Which parish or benefice does the role apply to, and your name and email address. This is again so we can maintain accurate records, and so that we do not have to spend time seeking out your contact details. 

- Confirmation that the Safer Recruitment process has been followed. There is information and documents elsewhere on this webpage. Each parish must adhere strictly to the requirements of the Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance and, where applicable to a role, must take full responsibility in obtaining a DBS check for all relevant paid and volunteer workers within their church, PRIOR to the person commencing their church roles and activities. This is not optional.

- Confirmation the Confidential Declaration Form (CDF) is complete and clear of blemishes. If there is a blemish, we will need to see it. We also need to know if the applicant has answered ‘yes’ to question 8 so that, if required, we can support them to ensure an overseas check or ‘A Certificate of Good Character’ can be obtained. The CDF will need to be kept safe and securely with your parish files.

- Information on who their ID documents verifier will be. Please ensure that the person named is happy to carry out this task. The verifier will need to meet with the applicant to see their original ID documents. Most commonly this is the Parish/Benefice Safeguarding Officer or the Incumbent. We can also be available by appointment if needed.

- Whether the applicant is an unpaid volunteer or paid worker. If the applicant is paid, we will need to receive payment before a DBS check is done. We will send you information on how to pay if necessary.

DBS Update Service

Using the DBS Update Service allows you to provide your original Enhanced DBS certificate and ID documents to your organisation/employer and they can then access the DBS Update Service employer portal and check if there have been any changes to your Enhanced DBS certificate since the date it was issued.  More information on the DBS Update Service can be found here: DBS Update Service: applicant guide - GOV.UK

For volunteer certificates, there is no charge, the DBS Update Service is free to use. For paid employees/workers certificates it currently costs £16 per year. Each year the DBS send an email asking if you want to keep your account active.

If you would like us to use the DBS Update Service for your DBS check, you will need to:

  • Provide your PSO or us with a completed Confidential Declaration Form (CDF).
  • Complete a consent form with your ID document verifier (your Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) or Parish/Benefice Incumbent or Diocesan Safeguarding Administrator) and send it to us.
  • Be able to meet with and provide originals of your ID documents to your PSO or Parish/Benefice Incumbent or Diocesan Safeguarding Administrator.
  • Have an Enhanced DBS certificate that is at the same checking level as the role you are applying for. It cannot be at a lower or a higher level. For example, if your new role does not require an adult's barred list check but your current certificate has the adult’s barred list check, we are not legally permitted to use it.
  • Be able to let us see your original paper DBS certificate. Please note that a photocopy, a photo or the certificate number will not suffice.

And most importantly,

  • Check that the DBS certificate you want to use is registered on your DBS Update Service account. You will have had to register your DBS certificate within 30 days of the issue date on your certificate. If you think someone else did it for you, please check your online DBS Update Service account to make sure. If you are having trouble remembering the email address and password you set for your account, the DBS customer services helpdesk can be contacted by Email: customerservices@dbs.gov.uk or Telephone: 0300 0200 190 

If you are confident that you can meet the above necessary steps, then please complete this form and send it to our DBS email address DBSAdmin@hereford.anglican.org or post it to the address at the top of the consent form. If you have any remaining questions, please do get in touch.

Useful documents and guidance

Safer Recruitment documents 

DBS guidance 

Parish role description templates

All roles that fall within the scope of Safer Recruitment and People Management guidance must have a written role description and person specification.  It must define the nature of activities involved and whether they make the role eligible for a DBS check and, if so, at what level.

These role description templates are currently under view all roles that fall within the scope of people management guidance.

Each parish must adhere strictly to the requirements of the Safer Recruitment and People Management practice guidance and must take full responsibility in obtaining a DBS check for all relevant paid and volunteer workers within the church, PRIOR to them commencing their church roles and activities. This is not optional.

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