R 3.3 Criminal Records Disclosure

R3.3.1 The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) supports organisations to obtain criminal record information for eligible roles. DBS disclosure functions (including standard and enhanced checks) are provided for within Part V of the Police Act 1997, and DBS was established under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

R3.3.2 A Standard DBS check (requested by an eligible organisation, not by an individual) provides details of spent and unspent convictions and cautions recorded on the Police National Computer that are disclosable under current filtering/protected records rules.

R3.3.3 An enhanced DBS check includes the same criminal record information as a standard check, plus any relevant information held by local police considered pertinent to the role. Where the position is eligible, an enhanced check with Barred Lists also includes a check of the children’s and/or Adults’ Barred Lists. Enhanced-level checks may be required for optical professionals where the role meets eligibility criteria and/or where this is contractually required (e.g., certain enhanced services or regulated activity).