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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• UK CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKS
• GOVERNMENT AGENCIES 
• IDENTITY CHECKS
• RESULTS
• ENGLAND AND WALES CHECKS
  • Basic level
  • Standard/Enhanced levels
• SCOTLAND CHECKS
  • Basic level

UK CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKS

Eligibility for the different levels of criminal checks.

The basic level of check is available to any candidate irrespective of the role they will carry out. However, please note that some roles should have a higher level of check to meet legal and regulatory requirements.  

The standard level of check tends to be applicable for roles involved in the administration of law, individuals applying for firearms and explosives licences, and senior management roles in banking and financial services. Some roles will require a standard level of check because of the location of work and frequency, rather than because of the role itself.  

The enhanced level of check tends to be applicable for roles that involve contact with children and adults at risk.  

For individuals who will work in Scotland, a PVG scheme application or update may be required for roles that involve caring for children and adults at risk.   

If you are not absolutely sure which level of check is needed for a particular role, please call Verifile for advice before proceeding. If the wrong level of check is ordered, and subsequently needs to be cancelled, a charge for the cancelled check will still apply and your candidate will need to complete a new screening form.  

Verifile can provide further written guidance about eligibility on request.   

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES  

There are three government agencies servicing the U.K.. These government agencies receive requests from organisations such as Verifile to search the Police National Computer and produce an official criminal record certificate.  

If a candidate is working in both England and Scotland, the application should be sent to the disclosure service where the recruitment decision is being made.  

Care should be taken however when considering this, as if the role is based in England with travel to Scotland, then DBS should be used.

Policies

Clients must have policies in place prior to ordering U.K. criminal checks. Templates of these policies can be found in the Documents section of the Verifile Client Portal or can be provided by Verifile on request.  

Please also ensure you have read relevant the Code(s) of Practice depending on where your candidates will work and therefore which government agency will be used.  

Certificate information 

The DBS and DS have both confirmed that a conviction will show on a certificate almost from the point of conviction. Although it may take a few weeks for the systems to update, the point of conviction triggers the inclusion on to a certificate. For further information or support, NACRO can provide help - 0300 123 1999

IDENTITY CHECKS

Identity checks will be required for some types of criminal checks.  

For England and Wales checks, candidates will confirm on the online form which documents they will or have already shown you during the face-to-face identity check.

You must undertake the identity check according to the instructions provided. You must carry out a comparison between the personal data on the documents and the personal information on the screening form and alert us to any discrepancies. If you do not complete this, you will be in breach of the DBS Code of Practice and the results you receive may be invalid.   

To confirm that the face-to-face identity check has been completed, please: 

• Log in to the Verifile Client Portal and select ‘Review your orders’.  
• Search for your candidate by name or by their VF reference number if you have it.  
• Select the criminal records check. It will then present you with a short form and the opportunity to confirm the details of the identity check which you have completed.  
• If there are discrepancies between the details, you see the candidate has provided online and the documents you have seen, please alert us to this before you submit the form and complete the identity check. 
• Submit the above details to Verifile, who will then be able to process the criminal record check.

When checking the validity of the documents (and Identity Checks) it is best practice to carry out this examination face-to-face.

Other alternative methods include via a live video link, for example Skype and FaceTime. In both cases you must be in physical possession of the original documents. Any risks identified when using live video must be assessed and mitigated by you if implementing this practice. You must not rely on the inspection of the documents via a live video link, or by checking a faxed or scanned copy of the document.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-identity-checking-guidelines/id-checking-guidelines-for-standardenhanced-dbs-check-applications-from-1-july-2021 

RESULTS

The method of receiving results varies by check. Most levels of checks will provide a traffic light indication on the Verifile final report.  

ENGLAND AND WALES CHECKS

Basic level 

Candidates having basic level checks can opt for a posted certificate. They can access an electronic certificate if they register with the DBS. They can opt to give their employer access to an electronic certificate and you can access this certificate if you first register with the DBS and supply the registered email address to Verifile for set up.

Verifile will provide you with an indication of the results (traffic light) and the certificate number, however we advise you request sight of the certificate sent to the candidate. To validate the certificate, you can cross check the certificate number against the certificate number that appears on the Verifile report.  

Standard/Enhanced levels

Standard and enhanced criminal certificates will be sent directly to your candidates. The certificate number and an indication of the result will appear in the final report; however, we strongly recommend that you ask the candidate to show you the original certificate. To validate the certificate, you can match the certificate number on the certificate against the certificate number on our final report. 

When Stage 2 of the DBS criminal check is conducted (Police National Search), they filter some information out of the final results and will not appear on the final certificate. They identify protected convictions and cautions. These are then removed and will not appear on the DBS certificate. 

Cautions and convictions for specified serious violent and sexual offences, as well as other specified offences of relevance for posts concerned with safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, will always be disclosed on the DBS certificate. In addition to this, all convictions resulting in a custodial sentence (suspended or not), will remain subject to disclosure, as will all convictions where more than one conviction is recorded.  

Full details of the filtering process, as well as details of what is and is not filtered, can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-filtering-guidance/dbs-filtering-guide 

SCOTLAND CHECKS

Basic level 

The online system will provide an indicative result of the check before Verifile receives the hard copy certificate. This will show whether there are unspent convictions or no unspent convictions.

The check will show as completed once the hard copy certificate is received by Verifile and the certificate is uploaded to the online system. The certificate number will appear in the final report, however, the certificate itself will not.

Certificates will be available for a period of 90 days after which time they will be deleted.

Whilst we have taken care to ensure that this information is accurate, we update articles regularly. If you feel something is incorrect, please use the feedback buttons below to tell us how we could improve.