Recommendation FR-9: Greater Use of DBS
From The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, published 20 October 2022.
Recommendation
The Inquiry recommends that the UK government enables any person engaging an individual to work or volunteer with children on a frequent basis to check whether or not they have been barred by the Disclosure and Barring Service from working with children. These arrangements should also apply where the role is undertaken on a supervised basis.
In brief (written by this site)
In May 2026, the Home Office and Ministry of Justice reported that the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removes the supervision exemption in the definition of regulated activity, enabling organisations to check whether individuals working or volunteering frequently with children on a supervised basis are on the barred list (Home Office and Ministry of Justice, May 2026). Earlier, in May 2024, the Thirlwall Inquiry legal team found that the government had accepted the recommendation subject to further assessment of feasibility and impact (The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team, May 2024).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
We accept subject to further assessment of feasibility and impact, taking into account the findings of the Bailey Review of Disclosure and Barring Regime published in April 2023.
Delivery
UK Government says in progress (11 May 2026)
The Act removes the current supervision exemption in the definition of regulated activity which prevents schools and other employers from finding out whether somebody working or volunteering closely and frequently with children on a supervised basis is on the DBS’s children’s barred list. This means that everyone in such roles will be eligible for the highest level of criminal record check carried out by the DBS, regardless of whether they are working under supervision.
It will be an offence for someone who is barred from working with children to work in one of these supervised roles and it will be an offence for an employer to knowingly employ them in one of these roles.
This change also means that where a person in a supervised role is removed because of causing harm, or posing a risk of harm, to a child, their employer is under a legal duty to refer them to DBS so that they can be considered for barring.
From: Crime and Policing Act 2026: Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommendations factsheet
Site note: The Crime and Policing Act 2026 factsheet on the Inquiry's recommendations, published jointly by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice on 11 May 2026, so the site files it under the UK Government. It describes what the Act does; it does not say when the provisions come into force.
Earlier statement on delivery (1)
UK Government (9 April 2025)
The Government will take the following steps in response to IICSA’s recommendations on the disclosure and barring system: We have introduced primary legislation to remove the supervision exemption in the Crime and Policing Bill.
From: Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update (accessible version)
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Thirlwall Inquiry legal team (15 May 2024)
Government response to final report (25 May 2023): Accepted.
“We accept subject to further assessment of feasibility and impact, taking into account the findings of the Bailey Review of Disclosure and Barring Regime published in April 2023.”
Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 31.2 No. 9, PDF page 857.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- UK Government
Response, delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding