The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) merged on 1 December to form the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). As a result 'CRB checks' are now called 'DBS checks'. Volunteering England has produced a user-friendly guide to the new DBS/CRB checking system, see attached.
Volunteering England are looking to hear from organisations that have experienced, or know of, bad practice regarding inappropriate checking requirements from funding organisations, including local authorities.
Volunteering England have heard that many are using DBS/CRB checks as a 'comfort blanket', forcing groups to check all their volunteers to an enhanced level 'just in case'. Volunteering England are now trying to get a handle on the extent to which this is happening, feedback should be emailed to Paul Winyard, at: [email protected]. All feedback will be treated in the strictest confidence.