Getting DBS check as sole trader

ValiantSaint

Hello everyone, I have recently started doing PC repair for elderly clients and even though I already have a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check with my main job, I was wondering if there's a way of getting one for my IT sideline? (Or something similar?)

I was told by a friend who works for Age UK, that I could just ring the police and they could do a basic check for me? (Or have they got that wrong?)

Many, many thanks in advance

Savvy_Sue

I believe you can get a copy of your police record, but if you've already had a DBS check then why not just use that, if you need to?

maninthestreet

https://www.gov.uk/copy-of-police-records

patman99

Why bother with a DBS unless you work as a direct employee and your employer insists on one ?.

You are fixing computers, not acting as a carer.

fishybusiness

You don't need to do another. It is transferable so that any employer can access it.

It is not like the old days of CRB when every organisation arranged their own checks.

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Patman - it doesn't matter what you are doing, anyone working with or around vulnerable people should be DBS'd, not just carers.

So a person working on the premises of vulnerable people, especially alone with them will be DBS checked. It might help the OP get work with specific organisations.

Savvy_Sue

fishybusiness wrote: »

You don't need to do another. It is transferable so that any employer can access it.

It is not like the old days of CRB when every organisation arranged their own checks.

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Under the latest system, it is possible to register for the update service you've linked to, but you have to do it at the time of applying for the check or very soon after.

Older DBS checks won't be portable.

The documentation is now sent to the applicant / employee, for them to show to any new employer. However, the employer - if entitled to carry out a check - then has to use the update service to see if anything untoward has been recorded since it was issued.

fishybusiness wrote: »

Patman - it doesn't matter what you are doing, anyone working with or around vulnerable people should be DBS'd, not just carers.

It is not that simple, and an employer cannot check their employees just because they will or may work with or around vulnerable people.

Also being elderly doesn't make one automatically vulnerable.

fishybusiness wrote: »

So a person working on the premises of vulnerable people, especially alone with them will be DBS checked. It might help the OP get work with specific organisations.

If the OP is working for or through an organisation then they may be entitled to carry out a check but it's by no means a given that they are. If he's doing this on a self-employed basis, he could get the basic check done.

As a fairly cynical person, I wouldn't ask to see such a check from someone working in my home, because I wouldn't think it worth the paper it was printed on.

ValiantSaint

Many thanks for all your help. It's not a DBS check that I have with my current employer, it's an old CRB, very sorry!

So, will I have to do another one? Or should I just ask for a copy of my police records and say that I've been police checked, instead? (I can always present them to the employer, if need be) And as I'm working on a self-employed basis, would this suffice? (As someone mentioned a "basic" check if working in this way?)

Many thanks (And sorry for the stupid questions!)

fishybusiness

As a fairly cynical person, I wouldn't ask to see such a check from someone working in my home, because I wouldn't think it worth the paper it was printed on.

I was thinking more working in a support capacity for care homes, family support charities and the like. I used to run an IT company and CRB as it was then, opened doors for me in to organisations I wouldn't otherwise have been invited in to.

As it is now, I have DBS for voluntary work with vulnerable adults - is it really not worth the paper it is written on??

Savvy_Sue

I'd start by asking your current employer if they have a policy of re-doing DBS checks at regular intervals. If you're due another one, that's your problem solved.

You can't, AFAIK, get a DBS check done for yourself. There is no requirement to have a police check done before working on a self-employed basis in the way you describe. Has anyone asked you for details of your criminal past, or to confirm that you don't have one?

If I were looking for someone to come into my home to do pc repairs, I'd be likely to see if I could get a recommendation from someone. If I couldn't, I might ask for references. I'd be vanishingly unlikely to want to check your record, for the reasons I've already given. Although I realise that may just be me.

Savvy_Sue

fishybusiness wrote: »

I was thinking more working in a support capacity for care homes, family support charities and the like. I used to run an IT company and CRB as it was then, opened doors for me in to organisations I wouldn't otherwise have been invited in to.

I think in recent years employers have become more restricted in their right to carry out such checks. The definition of 'vulnerable' seems to have been tightened up, for example.

fishybusiness wrote: »

As it is now, I have DBS for voluntary work with vulnerable adults - is it really not worth the paper it is written on??

Well, that's my opinion, as a private individual I wouldn't consider it worth the paper it's printed on, and I wouldn't dream of asking to see one if I was inviting a self-employed person to work in my home!

I recognise that having that piece of paper can enable you to do things you wouldn't be able to do without it - your voluntary work for example.

And I recognise that the government has to be seen to be doing something to prevent the abuse of children and vulnerable adults. This is that something.

Has it actually reduced abuse? Not a question for here ...

fishybusiness

Indeed, a whole new debate!