DBS Checks

Summary

The request sought details on DBS checks for Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) employees, including numbers, policies, and costs. The authority partially upheld the request, disclosing specific employee counts requiring checks, the relevant recruitment policy, and contact details for HR, while noting that some roles are exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 2001.

Key Facts

• DESC employs 2,226 staff, with 2,177 identified as requiring DBS checks based on their roles.
• DBS checks are mandatory for teachers, education support staff, youth workers, and lecturers working with children or vulnerable adults.
• Roles such as finance and central management are exempt from DBS checks if they do not involve unsupervised access to vulnerable groups.
• The Office of Human Resources Recruitment Team is responsible for DBS checks during the recruitment process.
• The Isle of Man Vetting Bureau, registered with the Criminal Records Bureau, undertakes the checks.

Data Disclosed

• 2,226
• 865
• 510
• 571
• 103
• 128
• 2019-07-22
• 2019-08-28
• 2019-07-30
• 686300
• ohr@gov.im

Exemptions Cited

• Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 2001

Original Request

Reference FOI 831366, it was stated that 2,226 employees are currently employed by DESC either full or part time. Q1. Out of the 2,226 employees, how many, as part of their job role/position, are required to undertake a DBS check prior to working with children or vulnerable adults. Q2. Regarding the answer to Q1, how many DESC employees are currently working with children or vulnerable adults do not hold a current or renewed DBS check? Q3. Provide the policy for employees and DBS checks. Q4. Provide the contact details of who in HR is responsible for ensuring employees undergo DBS checks. Q5. Do you outsource DBS checks? If yes, who holds the contract for this service. Q6. How much does it cost for an employee, or potential employee, to undergo a DBS check? Q7. Are all contractors, volunteers and students DBS checked prior to any form of work undertaken for DESC? Thank you.

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 894861 30 July 2019

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 22 July 2019 and which states:

"Reference FOI 831366, it was stated that 2,226 employees are currently employed by DESC either full or part time. Q1. Out of the 2,226 employees, how many, as part of their job role/position, are required to undertake a DBS check prior to working with children or vulnerable adults. Q2. Regarding the answer to Q1, how many DESC employees are currently working with children or vulnerable adults do not hold a current or renewed DBS check? Q3. Provide the policy for employees and DBS checks. Q4. Provide the contact details of who in HR is responsible for ensuring employees undergo DBS checks. Q5. Do you outsource DBS checks? If yes, who holds the contract for this service. Q6. How much does it cost for an employee, or potential employee, to undergo a DBS check? Q7. Are all contractors, volunteers and students DBS checked prior to any form of work undertaken for DESC? Thank you."

Please find detailed below the requested information. Q1. Out of the 2,226 employees, how many, as part of their job role/position, are required to undertake a DBS check prior to working with children or vulnerable adults? There are a number of employees on various Terms and Conditions of Employment, see numbers below: • 865 Teachers • 510 Education Support Staff (Administration, Pupil/Classroom support)

• 571 Civil Servants and Manual Workers (Public Service Commission) across various locations across Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) including schools, UCM, Villa & Gaiety, NSC and MSR, roles such as Lunchtime Assistant, Catering, Administration, Leisure Assistants, Sports Coaches etc. • 103 Youth Workers • 128 Lecturers and MPTC Please note the number of DESC employees fluctuates depending on the time of year, how many vacant positions there are, posts being recruited to etc. Those eligible (under the Gov.uk DBS guidance) will undertake a DBS check prior to commencing employment. Some of these roles would not include unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults, e.g. finance, administration and central management roles, and these roles would therefore not be exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 2001. This means that a DBS check would not be undertaken.

Q2. Regarding the answer to Q1, how many DESC employees are currently working with children or vulnerable adults do not hold a current or renewed DBS check? Vetting checks are undertaken prior to employment and DESC are currently in the process of renewing DBS checks for all employees where a check is required for that role. The renewal process being undertaken is following the attached established process. Q3. Provide the policy for employees and DBS checks Please see below extract from the DESC Policy and Procedures for the Recruitment of Teachers and Lecturers, this is mirrored in the Policy and Procedures for the Recruitment of Non-Teaching and Non-Lecturing Staff (Excluding Civil Servants). “Teachers and lecturers must not take up appointments without a satisfactory DBS check unless a prior risk assessment has been undertaken by the Department’s Director of Strategy and Corporate Services, the Director of Education or the Chief Executive, or their delegates. Risk assessments can only be undertaken when all other checks have been completed satisfactorily.” All checks requested are undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 2001 and the Isle of Man Vetting Bureau, a body registered with the Criminal Records Bureau. As stated above, where a DBS check is required, our standard approach is for it to be a pre-employment requirement for the successful candidate for that role and renewal subject to the attached standard process. Q4. Provide the contact details of who in HR is responsible for ensuring employees undergo DBS checks. For DBS checks undertaken during the recruitment process the team responsible is: Office of Human Resources Recruitment Team (Appointments) - Email: ohr@gov.im
telephone: 686300.

For DBS renewals, ownership is either with the individual employee (if they have opted in to the annual renewal service); or with the School or Service Area, with a list of current employees provided by OHR where needed to support this process. Q5. Do you outsource DBS checks? If yes, who holds the contract for this service. DBS checks requested by the Isle of Man Government are undertaken by the Isle of Man Vetting Bureau, who are registered with the Criminal Records Bureau. The Vetting Bureau is within the Department of Home Affairs and further information is available here: www.gov.im/categories/working-in-the-isle-of-man/vetting-and-safer- recruitment/. Q6. How much does it cost for an employee, or potential employee, to undergo a DBS check?
The costs of checks are listed here. Please note that there is no cost to the employee as it is covered by DESC. Type of check Cost Basic £25 Standard £26 Enhanced £44 Enhanced with barred lists (Most commonly used for DESC) £44 Q7. Are all contractors, volunteers and students DBS checked prior to any form of work undertaken for DESC? Volunteers and students engaged by the school are managed individually by the school or service area who will arrange for DBS checks to be undertaken when the role involves unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. Contractors/employees of other Departments of Government who regularly work within Schools, e.g. caretakers, cleaners also undertake a DBS check as a standard part of their pre-employment checks. Please quote the reference number 894861 in any future communications.

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Yours sincerely