Dbs certificate arrived 2 days ago

[LondonTeacher]

DBS CERTIFICATE AFTER NFA

A big thank you to the members of this forum who supported me the last few months.

For those not familiar with my story- you can click on my name and you'll see other threads.

To summarise it all, I'm a qualified teacher and was falsely accused by one of my students.

I was arrested, suspended from work whilst the police checked my phone, laptop and USB etc.

The investigation took 5 months to complete.

(Arrest Nov 2015
NFA decision May 2016)

I was told by my solicitor to pick up my items from the police station in May 2016.

After my items were returned, the OIC informed me that the allegation WILL show up on my enhanced DBS certificate. I sobbed for days because allegation/s on a DBS certificate can be a "killer blow" to your career especially teaching/working with children.

The OIC further exclaimed that due to the current climate of sexual abuse, the allegation WILL certainly show up.

I decided to apply for an enhanced DBS check to see what will show up after my NFA and plan how to challenge the removal of the allegation.

I applied early August 2016 and received my certificate through the post 2 days ago.

I was so relieved and elated after reading through the certificate - IT WAS CLEAN all the way through!!

There was NO mention of the allegation!!!! I screamed out so loud..... I checked my DBS Certificate 10 times to ensure I'm seeing right.

My teaching career was on hold for more than a year!!

I can now apply for a teaching post but I'm uncertain if I'll EVER work with children after being through such terrible ordeal.

The point is- it's not the OIC's decision whether or not to release arrest/allegation information on an enhanced DBS check.

That decision lies with the Chief Police officer of the force in your area. It's a rigorous process and the Chief need to justify breaching your human rights if they decide to disclose arrest information.

For more information, read through the DBS 'Statutory Disclosure Guidance'

[slowdown73]

I'm pleased it didn't show up on your DBS but just be mindful that it could potentially still show up on another DBS at some point in the future. Yes, the Chief Constsble makes the decision but it depends in part on the role you are applying for and whether they consider it relevant.

As far as I'm aware, you can't apply for your own DBS so how did you manage to get a copy? Was it by applying for a different type of job or work through an agency?

[LondonTeacher]

Slowdown,

I applied using a DBS Umbrella body. The National Union of Teachers advised me to apply for a DBS check using their recommended DBS Umbrella group.

Well I applied for an enhanced certificate to work as a supply teacher.

I'm not so sure about the allegation showing up on a future certificate. If it were to show up, it would have been on the one I've applied for in August since the information is current and I've applied for the highest level of DBS Check.

According to the Statutory Disclosure guidance, those who have 'arrest information' released on their DBS certificate, may have it removed after a certain amount of years especially if they have no further contact with the police etc:

The guidance further states:

Information should be sufficiently current
17.
The age of the information, coupled with the age of the applicant at the time and their conduct in the intervening period, are factors which should be taken into account. The older the information the more difficult it will be to form a reasonable belief that it is relevant. However, there are other factors, especially seriousness, which may mean that even very old information may reasonably be believed to be relevant.