DBS Checks: Police Performance Information

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Processing Times  

The average time taken to process all applications in January was:

    Enhanced/Level 2 with Barred List – 11.1 days

    Standard/Level 2 – 1.1 days

    Basic/Level 1 – 0.5 days

Police performance

Of the 52 police forces and law enforcement agencies (e.g., National Crime Agency) that DBS commissions to carry out checks on their behalf, DBS sends 3 million checks per annum to forces. 

Of those in February:

• on average, it took 21 days for the police to return a check that had been sent to them

• 4 forces (Dyfed Powys, Hampshire, Kent and Sussex) were experiencing delays. These represent 8% of the total checks sent to forces

• 38% of aged cases held by forces at the beginning of the month were completed by the end of the month, excluding the 4 red forces this figure is 71%

• The number of Aged cases decreased in February from 19,609 to 17,290. The 4 forces experiencing delays hold over 89% of all Aged cases.

Across February forces were sent 9.8k above forecast for the month.

Vacancies increased from 88 to 92. The leaving and starting of staff across the forces is a constant challenge, with successful recruitment campaigns routinely taking three months, police vetting adding a further three months and training then taking at least six to nine months. This means the full positive impact from additional / newly recruited staffing is not felt for a considerable period.

The process of completing less complex cases quicker while also tackling Aged cases implemented by Sussex in late November continues to have a very positive impact on their work in progress and Aged cases. 

The IT change implemented at Kent based on early analysis is reducing the number of checks they receive. Recruitment is proving more challenging than expected so vacancies (now 12%, 6.25 FTE) still need to be filled, and 11.59 FTE (29%) new starters and/or in training. To tackle the long-standing performance issues Kent are also going through a restructure of the Unit which will in the longer term give them greater resilience and improve output.      

Hampshire will be carrying out additional overtime until the end of the financial year. With budgeted resource of 27.23 FTE, they now have 1.84 FTE vacancies and 4.76 FTE (20%) new starters and/or in training. They are currently in the process of developing their own in-house Disclosure Management System (DMS) and a test version has been released. This system will see an increase in output and aid recovery as well as provide efficiencies going forward.   

Dyfed & Powys are looking at number of other measures in addition to those already in place to support their recovery including tackling less complex cases quicker and receiving help for other business areas within force which will see an improvement over the coming weeks.

The Met’s Disclosure Unit staff were engaged in industrial action from the 4th – 17th February, the impact was less than anticipated, and a recovery plan is in operation that, further disruption notwithstanding, will see them recovery output lost to strike action by mid-April.

DBS works with all police forces and law enforcement agencies on a daily basis to ensure checks are completed as quickly as possible. All applications that exceed 60 continuous days with any force are automatically identified by DBS through scheduled daily reports issued to forces to complete as soon as possible.

We are closely monitoring the four red forces who are experiencing significant delays.  No further significant improvements in Aged volumes will be achieved until the four forces have filled all vacant positions and staff are fully trained. This is expected to be towards the end of the financial year.

Background Information 

Why do checks go to the police?

For Enhanced DBS checks only, applications will be sent to a police force if there’s a potential match against the names on the application form and police systems. This means that even if an applicant has always resided in one area of the country, their check can be sent to a police force in another area that holds details of a person with the same or similar names to the applicant. 

The only exception to this is if the individual is applying for a role that involves working in their own home, such as a foster carer. In this case, even if there is no potential match, the application will still be sent to relevant police forces and law enforcement agencies, so they can carry out a check on other individuals who reside at, or frequent, their home.

Throughout this process, the police may need to gather information from other organisations. There are other instances where DBS checks may be delayed, such as missing, unclear, or incorrect information. Any issues on an application form, such as missing or incorrect information will flag a ‘conflict’ and the application will come back to DBS to clarify the information by contacting the employer, RB, or the applicant. This will inevitably increase the length of time the DBS check takes.

If there is a match

If there is a match on the Police National Computer (PNC), or against the data held by police forces or law enforcement agencies, we’ll send the application to relevant police forces or law enforcement agencies.

If there is no conflict, the forces will check for any information they hold that is relevant to the specific workforce the applicant is applying to work with, for example, the child workforce. If there is no information, the application comes back to DBS. 

If they do hold information, they will assess the information’s relevance to the workforce. They will decide if it is relevant and should be disclosed on the DBS certificate. Most of the time, certificates do not contain any ‘approved information’, as the police have decided not to disclose any information. However, they have still had to spend time reviewing the information before that decision can be taken. These checks can take a bit of time, especially if there are several forces involved. 

Factors affecting performance
 

There are several other factors which can cause delays in forces returning checks within the SLA, including:

• a high demand for our services

• assessment of the information they hold, including in some cases obtaining legal advice on whether it appropriate for employment purposes

• offering representations or responses from representations, which can result in further information being required.

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