What is Safer Recruitment?

Safer recruitment practice is an essential part of the Church of England’s approach to safeguarding.  Safer recruitment refers to the whole recruitment process including application forms, confidential declarations, role descriptions, taking references, interviews and criminal record checks.

The Safer Recruitment and People Management Guidance 2021 sets out safer recruitment practices for people working or volunteering in a Church of England setting.

To ensure only the most suitable people are recruited to work with children and/or adults experiencing, or at risk of abuse or neglect, churches should follow the Steps to Safer Recruitment.

What is the Disclosure and Barring Service?

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups. 

Criminal record checks provide details of an individual’s criminal record, including convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings. Individuals who have been judged as unsuitable to work with vulnerable groups can also be placed on a barred list, and therefore cannot seek or undertake certain work with children, young people and/or adults at risk. It is the policy of the Church of England that all those who work in eligible roles must have an enhanced criminal record check, with or without a barred list check, as appropriate.  

There is no charge to parishes for enhanced DBS check for volunteers. 

Paid posts in parishes will be charged the DBS fee which from 2nd December 2024 will be £49.50.

All Basic Checks for parishes will incur a cost of £24.

The Diocese of Portsmouth have appointed thirtyone:eight to process its DBS checks.

Click here to login to the E-bulk system

Click here to find information from thirtyone:eight about the temporary changes to the ID checking guidance

Click here to book onto Online Checks and Eligibility training from thirtyone:eight

Overseas Criminal Record Checks

The DBS cannot currently access overseas criminal records or other relevant information as part of its disclosure service. If you are recruiting people from overseas or if an applicant has either lived and/or spent a period of time abroad s/he will be required to obtain a criminal record check or certificate of good conduct from the relevant embassy/consulate/high commission to cover the time s/he lived/spent abroad.

For further information about criminal record checks for overseas applicants please click here.

If it is not possible to obtain criminality information from the relevant embassy, the recruiting parish/church body will need to make further appropriate checks so that any relevant events that occurred outside of the UK can be considered. These further checks should include additional references, including at least one from a previous employer, and if necessary the referee should be contacted to provide further clarification as appropriate.

Right to Work Check

A DBS does not check whether an applicant is permitted to work within the UK. Therefore, parishes must make sure that any new workers (paid or voluntary) are allowed to work in the UK before they are appointed. The implications of not checking an individual’s right to work in the UK can be costly, and therefore parishes are encouraged to ask all their new appointees to provide evidence of their right to work in the UK before they start their role, and keep a record of this as evidence that they have checked.

For further guidance on checking the applicants right to work in the UK please click here and to access the government quick answer tool please click here.