Source: Disclosure and Barring Service published on this website Thursday 10 September 2026 by Jill Powell

This guidance applies to DBS checks in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Information about checks in Scotland is available from Disclosure Scotland. Information about checks in Northern Ireland is available from AccessNI.

Important

This guidance is for general information only. Not everyone can get every type of DBS check. Use the DBS eligibility guidance and DBS eligibility tool on GOV.UK to check whether the person you are looking to employ can apply for this type of DBS check.

1. Introduction

From 21 January 2026, some self-employed workers and personal employees can apply for an Enhanced DBS check where eligible.

In some situations, this may also include checks of the Children’s and/or Adults’ Barred Lists.

Not everybody can apply for every type of DBS check. Whether someone can apply depends on the work they do and who they work with. This is known as DBS eligibility.

 This means that if you are considering employing someone to work with your child, yourself or a vulnerable family member, you can ask to see an Enhanced DBS certificate before making your decision. An Enhanced DBS certificate can provide useful information. However, it is only one part of making an informed decision.

This guide explains how a DBS certificate can be used alongside other information when choosing someone to work with your child or vulnerable family member.

Source: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) published on this website Tuesday 8 September 2026 by Jill Powell

From 01 September 2026, the definition of regulated activity with children is changing. Full details of the changes can be found in this GOV.UK article: Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026.

In this article, DBS will address some of the common misconceptions about what this change means in practice.

“The removal of the supervision exemption only applies to England”

This is incorrect.

The change applies in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

“The supervision exemption applies to adults and children”

This is incorrect.

The removal of the supervision exemption only affects the definition of regulated activity with children. The concept of a supervision exemption does not apply to regulated activity with adults, so there is no corresponding change to the definition of regulated activity with adults.

“Removal of the supervision exemption is only applicable to education settings and volunteers”

This is incorrect.

The removal of the supervision exemption is not limited to education settings, and it is not just about volunteers. The change applies wherever the relevant regulated activity with children criteria are met, including roles in sectors such as sports clubs, charities, youth organisations, outdoor activity providers and cultural organisations, as well as schools and colleges. Both paid staff and volunteers may be affected depending on the nature and frequency of their work with children.

“This legislative change means that I must now carry out a DBS check”

This is incorrect.

The legislation does not create a new requirement for organisations to carry out DBS checks, nor does DBS mandate that checks must be obtained. Employers and organisations remain responsible for assessing their roles and determining whether a DBS check is appropriate and what level of check is legally available.

“As an organisation I don’t need to review our DBS re-checking arrangements”

This is incorrect.

The removal of the supervision exemption provides a timely opportunity for organisations to review their workforce and volunteer safeguarding checks.

Organisations may wish to prioritise or accelerate DBS checking for those whose existing certificates do not contain a Children’s Barred List check.

“We can’t carry out an Enhanced with Children’s Barred List DBS check in advance of the 01 September change”

This is incorrect.

As long as the other elements of regulated activity are met, then organisations can apply for an Enhanced with Children’s Barred List DBS check in advance of the 01 September 2026 change.

“Legally, we have to suspend (or change the duties of) individuals who haven’t been subject to an Enhanced with Children’s Barred List DBS check”

This is incorrect.

The removal of the supervision exemption changes whether a role is considered regulated activity with children; it does not prescribe how organisations should manage individuals while recruitment or checking processes are completed.

The legislation does not require an organisation to remove an individual from their role solely because a DBS check application is being processed.

Decisions about whether an individual can continue undertaking their duties pending the outcome of a DBS check are a matter for the employer or organisation, taking account of their safeguarding responsibilities, risk assessment processes, and any sector-specific requirements. Employers and organisations can choose to put whatever safeguards in place they decide are appropriate while awaiting a DBS check. The key change is that supervision of paid staff and volunteers no longer determines whether the role itself is regulated activity with children.

“It is not possible to get a standalone Children’s Barred List check”

 This depends on the situation.  

Schools and other education providers may also be able to access a standalone Children’s Barred List check through the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) checking service in the limited circumstances described in DfE guidance.

Check the children’s barred list - GOV.UK

This route is limited to the organisations and circumstances set out in DfE guidance and is not available to all employers. Organisations outside these sectors cannot obtain a standalone Children’s Barred List check from DBS and should instead seek the appropriate Enhanced with Children’s Barred List DBS check where eligibility exists.

“There is no support out there on removal of the supervision exemption”

This is incorrect.

The DBS Regional Outreach team are here to help.

Organisations that are unsure how the removal of the supervision exemption may affect their workforce can attend a DBS Disclosure and Eligibility Workshop.  

Contact details for the Regional Outreach team, including direct email addresses for the adviser from your region, can be found on the DBS Regional Outreach service GOV.UK page.

Key takeaway

The removal of the supervision exemption does not mean every role involving working with children becomes regulated activity with children. Organisations should continue to consider the nature of the activity, how often it is carried out, and any other relevant criteria set out in DBS eligibility guidance.

Where a role was previously identified by the employer or organisation as outside of the regulated activity with children criteria solely because of supervision, this legislative change means that eligibility moves from an Enhanced DBS check to an Enhanced with Children’s Barred List DBS check.

Source: Intellectual Property Office (IPO) published on this web site Wednesday 9 August 2026

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has published its latest Trading Standards Survey report, setting out a picture of the IP crime issues local Trading Standards teams are investigating and observing on the frontline.

Dangerous counterfeit toys are now a more visible enforcement concern, with 67% of responding local authorities reporting investigations.

The annual survey covers April 2025 to March 2026 and received responses from 142 of 189 local authorities.

Responses provide valuable frontline insights from local Trading Standards teams about how counterfeit goods are reaching communities across the UK. In turn, this helps build a clearer picture of a criminal threat that operates locally, nationally and globally. These insights help inform wider enforcement action to disrupt the illegal trade in counterfeits, helping to protect consumers, local businesses and high streets.

Responses this year show that cigarettes and tobacco remain the most commonly investigated counterfeit goods, reported by 89% of responding local authorities, followed by clothing at 69% and toys at 67%.

This year’s report also underlines how counterfeit goods support a wider criminal economy. Sixty-four percent of responding local authorities observed links during investigations between counterfeiting and organised crime groups — around a third higher than last year. Trading Standards teams also continue to report links between people committing IP crimes and other forms of criminality including money laundering, people trafficking/modern slavery, and drug dealing.

Andy Cooke-Welling, the IPO’s Director of Enforcement, said:

Trading Standards officers are on the frontline of tackling IP crime, seizing unsafe goods, disrupting counterfeiters, and protecting consumers, businesses and communities across the UK. This year’s survey shows growing links to serious and organised crime and the groups which enable this, underlining that counterfeit goods are anything but harmless bargains. They not only put people at risk, but form part of a wider criminal threat.

Counterfeit toys are clearly a growing concern, with more than two in three respondents reporting investigations. Our Fake Toys, Real Harms campaign — amplified by sustained national media attention around counterfeit Labubu dolls — has put this firmly in the public eye and sharpened awareness among consumers, industry and law enforcement bodies. Working alongside our partners, we remain focused on stopping dangerous counterfeits reaching communities, and disrupting the criminal networks behind them.

The IPO continues to work with partners across law enforcement, government and industry to help turn frontline intelligence into targeted action. This approach helps prevent harmful counterfeit goods reaching homes, high streets and communities, while raising wider awareness and understanding of the risks they pose. It is a shared effort to help keep communities safe, support legitimate businesses and make it harder for criminal groups to profit from IP crime.

Source: Home Office published on this website Monday 7 September 2026 by Jill Powell

The government has backed a new law banning depraved child-like sexual abuse dolls. 

The Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Private Members’ Bill, which has progressed to committee stage, will make it illegal to buy, sell or own these vile dolls. Anyone caught with one could face up to 5 years behind bars.

Police have encountered these items while investigating child sexual abuse suspects and when monitoring registered sex offenders, but current legislation does not provide a specific offence for owning or making these dolls. By closing this crucial loophole, the bill will give police greater powers, stopping abusers and helping to prevent them from harming real children.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, SaCir Kaur said:

“Children must be protected from sexual abuse in every form – online, offline and wherever the threat appears. As the mum of a young child myself, I am horrified these disturbing dolls even exist. This new law will mean we can seize them and prosecute anyone involved in their sick trade.

“This government is supporting this bill as part of our drive to expose abuse sooner, disrupt offenders faster and protect more vulnerable children from these horrors.”

The bill builds on tough new measures in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 to intensify the response to both online and contact child sexual abuse. These include:

• bringing in a mandatory duty for people in key roles to report suspected child sexual abuse
• creating a new offence for anyone interfering with the duty to report
• making grooming an aggravating factor when courts sentence child sexual offences
• world-leading new offences to fight the rising tide of AI child sexual abuse material
• giving Border Force more powers to stop digital child sexual abuse material at our borders

These legal efforts are buttressed by historic levels of funding. The government recently announced a record £100 million to combat child sexual abuse, improve the police response to these crimes, go after offenders and give victims and survivors the protection and support they need.

CEASE welcomes the government’s support for this hugely important bill to ban child-like sexual abuse dolls. This is an important step forward for child protection – we applaud the government for listening to the evidence and backing decisive action to close this dangerous legislative gap. It sends a clear and welcome signal that there should be no place in our society for products that risk normalising the sexual abuse of children.

With the government now firmly behind this bill as it progresses through Parliament, we need to see the same courage and urgency applied to digital equivalents of child-like sexual abuse dolls.