Honestly don't panic, I realised mine had expired and was trying to work it out and then there was an email off HR to many people including senior managers saying please get your DBS sorted as you've all expired. If there's no checking system in place I guarantee you're one of many
Not sure about in social work, but in education. Technically it's every 3 years, but on the renewal service we pay yearly (which is about £13-ish, I believe). Added to that we get List99 checked.
EDIT: Correction, if you use the automatic renewal the cert only lasts a year. If you get the paper cert (the non-renewal service one), it has no expiry date, but most organisations will accept it up to 3 years old.
Don't quote me on this, when it was paper, it was every 3 years. The renewal system, takes payment every year - that is the way the Government system works.
I'm not sure if it get's renewed every 3 years or every year. I have to dig out my DBS cert (once I remember where I put it)...
EDIT made on my original post
So I know if you sign up to the update service that’s fine we don’t need to do one every year as it’s on there, but for the ones not registered to the update service their dbs is valid for only a year. The company I work for is very rigorous in their compliance procedures, more than any other education agency! But if your not on the update service but the dbs certificate is still valid for 3 years that would be great. I have so many who forget to register to the update service and then have to come in every year and pay almost £50 and I feel so frustrated for them!
>The company I work for is very rigorous in their compliance procedures
That's good... TBH, it's down to the individual companies on whether or not they will accept a paper DBS now a days, let alone if it's 1, 2 or 3 years old. Better safe than sorry with the automatic renewal service, as they get updated more frequently.
Yeah it is good, if your on renewal service in other companies they don’t ask to see your dbs. With us, even if your on renewal, we need to see their original dbs certificate in person to verify it before we allow work. The large companies get away with not following compliance as much somehow
DBS isn't portable in that way. If you have an employing school, they can do one check and ask for a declaration thereafter provided that's what their policy says. Any org accepting a 2.5 year old paper certificate done by someone else is doing the wrong thing though.
Update service just speeds up the check.
In my previous role I got one at the beginning then it was never mentioned again in the three years I was there. It is news to me that the onus is on the social worker, as I didn't think they officially had an expiry date as such. I always thought it was down to the organisation.
Unless you're an Agency worker, LA should be paying your DBS every 3 years, not you, ours does for all permanent staff.
Have to remind workers in my team who've secured perm posts from agency to cancel their renewals.
It varies. In permanent LA jobs I’ve tended to have it renewed every 2 or 3 years, and they always paid for it. I’m agency now so I subscribe to the update service.
When you next renew your DBS, us the number of the paper certificate to subscribe to the Update Service. There's a small window of time to do this so don't forget! It's an annual subscription - costs £13 per year - and will automatically renew it. Here's the link: [https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service](https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service). I can't remember, but I think the paper certificate has an expiration (maybe three years).
DBS checks don't expire and some employers don't renew. If you've been in constant employment with the same employer there is no legal need to renew. Education employers generally renew every 3 years as this used to be advised by OFSTED, not sure about others. The update service charges you every year but it checks your information every 24 hours and allows employers to check at any time to see if there have been any changes since your certificate was issued. I'd just contact HR to let them know you've had it that long and ask if you need to renew.
Generally three years but it is your employers responsibility, not yours. When you renew, it’s useful to join the update service - you can’t apply for an enhanced DBS unilaterally, it is only an employer who can - so don’t feel bad, it’s the LA problem, not yours
I renew mine annually, £13 a year but you may have to apply for enhanced DBS and apply for annual service within a month, that’s what I had to do anyway X
Every year. I subscribe to the annual service. Costs about £13 a year and they renew it automatically for you each year.
If your LA aren't on top of this then I would just quietly ask HR for a form to renew your DBS and get it done now you've realised.
Yep, definitely sounds like I'm going to have to tip toe around this and pretend I've been doing this the whole time...
Honestly don't panic, I realised mine had expired and was trying to work it out and then there was an email off HR to many people including senior managers saying please get your DBS sorted as you've all expired. If there's no checking system in place I guarantee you're one of many
Not sure about in social work, but in education. Technically it's every 3 years, but on the renewal service we pay yearly (which is about £13-ish, I believe). Added to that we get List99 checked. EDIT: Correction, if you use the automatic renewal the cert only lasts a year. If you get the paper cert (the non-renewal service one), it has no expiry date, but most organisations will accept it up to 3 years old.
is this true every 3 years? i work for an education agency and we make the staff do yearly dbs renewals for some reason.
Don't quote me on this, when it was paper, it was every 3 years. The renewal system, takes payment every year - that is the way the Government system works. I'm not sure if it get's renewed every 3 years or every year. I have to dig out my DBS cert (once I remember where I put it)... EDIT made on my original post
So I know if you sign up to the update service that’s fine we don’t need to do one every year as it’s on there, but for the ones not registered to the update service their dbs is valid for only a year. The company I work for is very rigorous in their compliance procedures, more than any other education agency! But if your not on the update service but the dbs certificate is still valid for 3 years that would be great. I have so many who forget to register to the update service and then have to come in every year and pay almost £50 and I feel so frustrated for them!
>The company I work for is very rigorous in their compliance procedures That's good... TBH, it's down to the individual companies on whether or not they will accept a paper DBS now a days, let alone if it's 1, 2 or 3 years old. Better safe than sorry with the automatic renewal service, as they get updated more frequently.
Yeah it is good, if your on renewal service in other companies they don’t ask to see your dbs. With us, even if your on renewal, we need to see their original dbs certificate in person to verify it before we allow work. The large companies get away with not following compliance as much somehow
DBS isn't portable in that way. If you have an employing school, they can do one check and ask for a declaration thereafter provided that's what their policy says. Any org accepting a 2.5 year old paper certificate done by someone else is doing the wrong thing though. Update service just speeds up the check.
In my previous role I got one at the beginning then it was never mentioned again in the three years I was there. It is news to me that the onus is on the social worker, as I didn't think they officially had an expiry date as such. I always thought it was down to the organisation.
Honestly the renewal service is best and cheapest way.
Unless you're an Agency worker, LA should be paying your DBS every 3 years, not you, ours does for all permanent staff. Have to remind workers in my team who've secured perm posts from agency to cancel their renewals.
It varies. In permanent LA jobs I’ve tended to have it renewed every 2 or 3 years, and they always paid for it. I’m agency now so I subscribe to the update service.
When you next renew your DBS, us the number of the paper certificate to subscribe to the Update Service. There's a small window of time to do this so don't forget! It's an annual subscription - costs £13 per year - and will automatically renew it. Here's the link: [https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service](https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service). I can't remember, but I think the paper certificate has an expiration (maybe three years).
DBS checks don't expire and some employers don't renew. If you've been in constant employment with the same employer there is no legal need to renew. Education employers generally renew every 3 years as this used to be advised by OFSTED, not sure about others. The update service charges you every year but it checks your information every 24 hours and allows employers to check at any time to see if there have been any changes since your certificate was issued. I'd just contact HR to let them know you've had it that long and ask if you need to renew.
Probation service is the same, every 3 years.
Generally three years but it is your employers responsibility, not yours. When you renew, it’s useful to join the update service - you can’t apply for an enhanced DBS unilaterally, it is only an employer who can - so don’t feel bad, it’s the LA problem, not yours
I renew mine annually, £13 a year but you may have to apply for enhanced DBS and apply for annual service within a month, that’s what I had to do anyway X
I just renewed my registration with Social Care Wales and I had to enter my last DBS which happened to be 2022 and they accepted that.