A Basic or Standard DBS check would show nothing - there's no ability for Police to add "other relevant information" onto these levels of check. An Enhanced check would be a different story - it would completely depend on the type of job you're doing and the relevance of the ongoing investigation in terms of a safeguarding purposes. For an Enhanced check, in a "general" sense, anything involving violence/sexual offences is more likely than not to be disclosed, and anything that is not safeguarding-related is rather unlikely to show (shoplifting, minor drug possession etc). This is just a very "general" steer though - any disclosure should be managed on a case-by-case basis, and as AB2014 mentioned, the police need to work within the statutory guidance to be able to make a disclosure of non-conviction information. 20. There are no hard and fast rules to apply in this area, but Chief Officers should consider whether a specific piece of information is of sufficient gravity to justify its inclusion. It may not be appropriate to disclose information if it is trivial, or simply demonstrates poor behaviour, or relates merely to an individual’s lifestyle. 21. There is some relationship here to the purpose for which the certificate is being sought. A relatively minor piece of information with a clear relationship to that purpose might reasonably be viewed as relevant and proportionate to disclose, while something more serious with no such relationship might not. In some cases, it might be reasonable to view information linked to an isolated incident or allegation less seriously than information linked to a sequence. Clearly there will be occasions where the nature, relevance or severity of a single incident or allegation is such as to require disclosure. 22. 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 proportionate to disclose. However, there are other factors, especially seriousness, which may mean that even very old information may reasonably be believed to be proportionate to disclose. The currency of information should be considered together with the specific circumstances of the case. 23. This will always be a matter of judgment, but the starting point will be to consider whether the information is from a credible source. Chief Officers are not required to conclude whether the information is true; rather they should determine that the information is not lacking in substance and it is reasonable to believe it may be true. Detailed analysis of the evidence is not required in order to establish sufficient credibility for disclosure purposes. Disclosing information with a lower likelihood of the allegation being true may still be justified for example when the allegation is particularly serious and/or recent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views, opinions & contributions are my own and do not represent the views of Unlock unless specifically stated.
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