DISCLOSURE & BARRING SERVICE GUIDANCE NOTES PLEASE READ THESE NOTES CAREFULLY BEFORE COMPLETING YOUR DBS DISCLOSURE APPLICATION FORM As an NHS employer, which provides healthcare for vulnerable groups of people (adults and children), there are a number of pre-and post employment checks that the Trust is required to carry out for applicants who apply to work in the Trust. If you are offered a post with the Trust, your offer will be conditional to a number of checks in which you may be asked to complete a DBS Disclosure application form if your post is deemed eligible for a Disclosure (DBS) Check. There are two levels of Disclosure - Enhanced and Standard. If you are an external candidate joining the Trust you will be expected to pay for the cost of the DBS disclosure which is 44 for an enhanced disclosure and 26 for a standard disclosure. The recruiting manager will discuss with you further during your interview if you are shortlisted. Standard Disclosure Definition Working With Children Any employment or other work in a regulated position, which involves regular contact with children during the course of such work. Working With Vulnerable Adults Any employment or other work which is concerned with the provision of care services to vulnerable adults and which is of such a kind to enable the holder of that employment or the person engaged in that work to have access to vulnerable adults in receipt of such services in the course of their normal duties. Enhanced Disclosure Definition Working With Children Where the post involves working with children in a regulated position and the position involves regularly caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of those under aged 18. Working With Vulnerable Adults A person who regularly cares for, trains, supervises or is in sole charge of vulnerable adults. If your post is deemed eligible for a Disclosure check, you will be advised of the level of Disclosure required at the outset of the recruitment process and during the interview. The results of a Disclosure provide details of a person s criminal background including convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings. The conditional offer of employment will be subject to receiving back a satisfactory Disclosure. Candidates will not be able to commence employment with the Trust until a satisfactory Disclosure has been received and checked Internal Candidates If you are an internal candidate (already working for the Trust) and your new post is eligible for a Disclosure check, but does not involve working with children, you can commence in your new post if you already have an enhanced Disclosure. If you have never had a DBS before or if you have a standard Disclosure, then we will need to receive a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure before you can commence in your new post. However, if you are transferring into a post involving working with children, you will not be able to commence employment in your new role until a satisfactory Disclosure has been received back. If following your interview, you are successful, you will receive a conditional offer letter pending preemployment checks i.e. health-screening, references and if applicable, a Disclosure check. Your conditional offer letter will include a declaration form, which you must complete and return with regard to criminal offences. Following completion of satisfactory pre-employment checks, you will be sent a commencement letter, which will specify a start date that will coincide with the Trust s core mandatory induction programme. This core induction takes place at the beginning of the month.
Spent convictions The Trust is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). Therefore, you are not entitled to withhold details of any convictions, etc which would be considered as spent under the Act. You must declare all convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings (the only exception to this are minor traffic offences, which do not result in disqualification). DBS Process and Document Verification for Eligible Posts When undertaking the DBS process, we require your written permission and if you are offered a post subject to satisfactory DBS clearance, you will be sent the necessary Disclosure form and guidance notes, which you must complete and bring with you when you attend the Employment Services Department for your preemployment appointment which includes document verification. When you receive notification of your conditional offer of employment, you must contact Employment Services on the telephone number on your offer letter as soon as possible to arrange a mutually convenient time to submit the completed Disclosure Form together with supporting documents in order to begin the DBS process. Please do not wait for your health check to begin this process as the DBS process can take several weeks to complete. It is important that you bring along as many of the following documents (originals only, please note photocopies will not be accepted). The more documents you provide, the better in terms of facilitating the DBS process. A Valid Passport any nationality UK Driving Licence either photo card or paper Original Birth Certificate (i.e. issued within 12 months of the applicants date of birth) Valid photo identity card (EU Countries Only) UK Firearms Licence Marriage Certificate (if applicable) P45 or P60 (i.e. issued within the last 12 months) Work Permit/Visa (i.e. issued within the last 12 months) You must also provide two recent utility bills or bank statements, which must include your name and current home address and be less than 3 months old. Remember, if you are an internal candidate and you have not returned your signed declaration, you must bring it with you when you attend your DBS appointment. A copy of the Disclosure will be sent to yourself directly from the DBS and in due course Employment Services will contact you to advise you of the outcome and the next step of the recruitment process. You can keep a check on the progress of your Disclosure by going to www.dbs.gov.uk and clicking on the online tracking service. You will need two pieces of information to track your form: 1. The Disclosure application form reference number 2. Your date of birth Confidentiality The Trust will ensure that the information you provide will remain confidential and will only be seen by those staff that need it to do their jobs. The Trust is fully committed to compliance with the Data Protection Act (1998) Further information Employment Services: 01925664418 Disclosure application line: 0870 90 90 844 DBS information line: 0870 90 90 811 DBS website: www.dbs.gov.uk
Mandatory Fields and Do s and Don ts for DBS Disclosure Applications The following checklist will help you complete your Disclosure application form in full so please read carefully to ensure that the form is not returned or rejected because it is deemed incomplete by the DBS. Mandatory Fields The fields listed below are mandatory and therefore must be completed. Failure to do so will result in the application form being rejected and returned, meaning that your start date at the Trust will also be delayed. Section A Applicant s Details 1 Title One of the options available must be completed, if you are not Divorced do not tick the Ms box. Forms are always returned if this box is ticked. 2 Surname Please ensure a name is provided and if you have indicated Mrs or Ms you state your birth surname too. 3 Forename(s) All forenames must be provided including any middle names, even if you do not use them. 4 - Have you ever been know by any other names, i.e. maiden name. If yes, Other Names 13 you must complete the full name(s) in a5 a13 as appropriate. 14 Date of Birth DDMMYYYY (e.g. 14051971 for 14 May 1971) 15 Gender Only one box should be crossed 16 Place of birth This is required, please enter the town of birth (this includes both born in and (town) outside of the UK). 17 Place of birth This is required, please enter the country of birth (this includes both born in (country) and outside of the UK). 20 Do you have a National Insurance provide your national insurance number. Number? 22 24 28-31 Do you hold a valid UK Driving Licence? Do you hold a valid passport? ISA & Vetting Barring provide your Licence number. provide your passport number, nationality and country of issue. Please ensure that you complete questions 28 & 30. Section B Current Address 32 Address Please ensure a current address is provided. 33 Town/City Please ensure a current town/city is provided. 35 UK Postcode The full post code must be entered. 36 Country Please ensure you enter the country of residence. 37 At address since Month and Year must be entered MMYYYY (e.g. 061985 for June 1985). If less than five years, Section C must be completed and it is important that your dates do not overlap but run concurrently. Overlapping dates result in forms being returned. Section C If the current address given at Section B is less than five years ago, section C must be completed. This must cover a continuous five-year period; there must be no gaps or overlapping in the address provided for this period. Use a continuation sheet ensuring you complete all details. Please give full address details, including postcode and the dates at which you resided at these addresses, these dates must not overlap but run concurrently. If an applicant has not lived at their current address for more that five years and has provided other addresses, you should where possible, ask for documentation to verify this information.
Section D Apply for ISA Registration DO NOT COMPLETE THIS SECTION The ISA registration phase of the VBS scheme has been halted and as a result customers cannot apply for ISA registration at this stage. Section H Declaration by Applicant Have you ever been convicted of a criminal 55 offence or received a Only one box should be crossed. caution, reprimand or warning? 56 Declaration by applicant A signature must be present 57 Date of signature Please enter a date in the format DD/MM/YYYY e.g 05/05/2010 Section W,X and Y THESE SECTIONS MUST NOT be completed by the applicant Common Errors Applicants Should Avoid Making 1. Five-year address history. Gaps and overlapping in address histories are by far the bigger cause of rejected forms. Therefore ensure addresses provided do not overlap but run concurrently. 2. Middle name missing. When an applicant submits information such as a driving licence number and it indicates that a middle name has been used, but it has not been detailed on the application form, the DBS will reject the form and return it to the Trust for clarification. 3. Surname at birth missing. An applicant crosses MS or MRS, but does not enter a surname at birth in Section A4. The surname at birth must be provided even if this is the same as the surname recorded in Section A2*. 4. Missing signature. The application form must always be signed by the applicant at Section H68 and the registered counter signatory at Section E. If you make any of these errors, your Disclosure will take longer to process. Please ensure you check your form thoroughly before submission. Do s and Don ts for DBS Disclosure Applications Each Disclosure application form is scanned by the DBS automatically. However, many forms cannot be scanned due to some basic errors made when completing the form. This causes delays in processing applications. To ensure your application is processed as smoothly and efficiently as possible, please follow the Do s and Don ts below when completing your Disclosure application form. DO S DO make sure you use BLACK INK THROUGHOUT and write clearly in BLOCK CAPITALS ONLY. DO place only one letter or number in each box. DO cross out any errors on the form and amend the correction to the right of the error. If there is no space to write next to a particular piece of information, please write as close to the text as possible. DO ensure that both the form reference number and your name are noted on all continuation sheets. DO use the checklist overleaf when checking the application form to ensure you have completed all mandatory fields. DO ensure signatures keep within the space provided in the box.
DON TS DON T use staples to attach any continuation sheets or additional information. DON T place any stickers or stamps on the form i.e. featuring addresses or dates. DON T use correction fluid on the form. To correct a mistake, please follow the guidance above. DON T allow text to cross the edges of the boxes on the application form. DON T put a line through a section of the form or state a field is not applicable, if it is not relevant to the application then please leave it blank. DON T send in any original or copies of identity documents with the Disclosure application form. *Applicants who were adopted before the age of 10 years do not need to provide their name at birth in Section A of the application form, they should give their adoptive name. This is because the age of criminal responsibility is deemed to be 10 years, under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, Chapter 12, Section 50. This means that there is no possibility that an individual could have a criminal record in a name used until the age of 10 years.