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DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees

Source: Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) published on this website Wednesday 21 January 2026

This guidance is live from 21 January 2026

.The information below is for self-employed individuals and personal employees.

A self-employed person is an individual who works for themselves rather than being employed by an organisation. For example, a private maths tutor who offers one to one lessons to students in their homes.

A personal employee is someone employed directly by a private individual to deliver services either to them or a member of their family. For example, someone with a Personal Health Budget may directly employ an individual as a carer – this person would be a personal employee.

Legislative changes coming into force on 21 January 2026 will allow self-employed individuals and personal employees to apply for Enhanced and Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS checks for the first time.

What is changing

Currently, self-employed people can only apply for a Basic DBS check. If they need an Enhanced check, an employing organisation must apply on their behalf.

From 21 January, self-employed workers and personal employees who are paid for their roles will be able to apply for Enhanced or Enhanced with Barred List(s) checks through a DBS umbrella body, provided their role is eligible.

This change will benefit workers such as:

private tutors offering lessons directly to children
personal employees hired directly by individuals, for example through direct payments or personal health budgets

What is not changing

Existing routes for DBS checks remain the same. If you work for an organisation, or contract your services to one, your employer can continue to apply for checks on your behalf.

Eligibility criteria are unchanged. You can only apply for an Enhanced or Enhanced with Barred List(s) check if your role qualifies under existing rules.

How to apply

Self-employed people and personal employees can apply through a registered DBS Umbrella Body. Use the find an Umbrella Body tool on GOV.UK and filter for organisations that process checks for self-employed individuals.

The existing DBS fees apply, and Umbrella Bodies may charge their own administration fees.

Read the full guidance: DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees

Information for private individuals

If you are looking to hire a self-employed person or personal employee, you cannot apply for a DBS check on their behalf. They must apply themselves through an umbrella body.

You can ask to view an applicant’s original DBS certificate as part of your recruitment considerations, and use the free DBS Update Service to check whether a certificate is up to date.

Read the full guidance: Employing self-employed people and personal employees

There is also new guidance for Private individuals employing self-employed workers or personal employees

This guidance is also live from 21 January 2026

A personal employee or someone who is self-employed is able to obtain an Enhanced or Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS check on themselves if they are eligible.

As a private individual looking to take on the services of a self-employed person or a personal employee, as part of your recruitment considerations, you can ask to view their DBS certificate, if it is the appropriate type of check for the role.

The application process

As a private individual you cannot apply for a DBS check on behalf of the person you are looking to recruit. They need to do this themselves via an Umbrella Body. Applicants can find out about this process on the DBS checks for self-employed people and personal employees GOV.UK page.

What should I be looking for on a DBS Certificate?

As part of your decision-making process, you must ensure you have seen an original  DBS certificate. Copies or digital photographs are not acceptable and must be rejected. A DBS certificate contains security features which can be used to verify whether it has been counterfeited or altered. Further information about checking the validity of a DBS certificate can be found on the DBS checks: guidance for employers GOV.UK page.

If you are unsure whether a DBS certificate is genuine, or you think that it may have been altered, you should contact DBS at FDIT@dbs.gov.uk.

Alongside the security features, you should also be checking to make sure that the details the candidate has supplied you with match what is on their certificate e.g. full name etc.

You’ll also need to check:

the details the applicant has provided match what is on the DBS certificate. Best practice would be to view a government issued photo Identity document. Alternative combinations of identity documents can be found on the ID checking guidelines GOV.UK page.
that the certificate is for the right workforce. For example, if the applicant is working with your child you would expect to see wording including phrasing similar to ‘child workforce’ in the position applied for field
check if any criminal conviction information or police intelligence has been released on the certificate. If it has, please see the next section.
the date the certificate was issued. DBS certificates are accurate on the day they are issued and for those not on the Update Service you should be mindful of how long ago the certificate was issued.

If the DBS certificate the applicant presents states they are barred from the group (children or adults) they are seeking to work with you must not employ them. They are committing a criminal offence by seeking work in regulated activity whilst barred and you should report them to the police.

How do I consider information on a DBS check?

DBS checks are just one part of considering whether an individual is suitable for a role. There are other elements of safer recruitment decision making to consider and you may wish to look at guidance from other relevant organisations, for example Nacro (Employer Advice Service) or Unlock. Other organisations such as the NSPCC and Skills for Care (Safer Employment resources) provide sector specific guidance.

As a general point, all applicants for positions should be treated fairly and not discriminated unfairly against on the basis of a conviction, caution or other information revealed. However, if the information disclosed on the certificate makes you feel worried about the safety of a child or vulnerable adult the individual is due to be working with this should be your main consideration.

DBS would suggest that open and measured discussions take place on the subject of any offences or other matter that might be revealed on a DBS check with the applicant.

Please note that DBS certificate information must only be used for a specific employment suitability decision and the applicant must give you consent to view the certificate. DBS certificate information must not be shared with any third party.

You should not keep any photocopy or other image of the certificate or any copy or representation of the contents of a certificate. 

Update Service

The Update Service is an online subscription that lets you carry out a free, instant online check to view the status of an existing Enhanced or Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS certificate of an individual you are looking to employ. Please note the individual applicant will need to subscribe to use this service.

You don’t need to create an account to run a status check, but you do need to be able to confirm that:

you have the individuals consent to do the check
you have the right to ask the exempted question (the role is eligible for an Enhanced/Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS check)
you have the right to view the level of DBS check being presented to you.

As part of running a status check you will be asked to enter an organisation name. As an individual not part of an organisation we’d suggest entering the phrase ‘private employer’ into the organisation name box.

More information about the Update Service and completing status checks is available online on the DBS Update Service: employer guide GOV.UK page.

Misconduct concerns

If you suspect any criminal conduct you should report this to the police.

There is also further guidance from other organisations on how to approach misconduct concerns.

Please refer to this guidance from the NSPCC in relation to those working with children - Reporting child abuse and neglect- NSPCC. For concerns about the conduct of personal employees working with adults please refer to this guidance - Sorting out problems.

Contact DBS 

DBS contact information is available on the homepage.

Government launches consultation on children's social media use and bans phones in schools to protect young people's wellbeing and ensure safer online experiences.

Source: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology published on this website Monday 20 January 2026 by Jill Powell

A consultation will identify the next steps in the government’s plan to boost children’s wellbeing online, ensuring they have a healthy relationship with mobile phones and social media.

The proposals will build on the government’s broader action to ensure every child gets the best start in life, including a revised curriculum and better skills training.

Immediate action will include Ofsted checking school mobile phone policy on every inspection, with schools expected to be phone-free by default thanks to today’s announcement.

Amid concerns that young people’s lives are dominated by too much time in front of devices, the government will support families by producing evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged 5 to 16. This is in addition to guidance for parents of under-fives that will be published in April.

Ministers will examine the most effective ways to go further to ensure children have healthy online experiences, building on the world-leading Online Safety Act.

A consultation on children’s use of technology - backed by a national conversation – will seek views from parents, young people and civil society - with the first events in a nationwide tour to be held in the days ahead. The government will respond to the consultation in the summer.

Evidence from around the world will be examined on a wide range of suggested proposals, including looking at whether a social media ban for children would be effective and if one was introduced how best to make it work. Ministers will visit Australia to learn first-hand from their approach.

The consultation will look at options including raising the digital age of consent, implementing phone curfews to avoid excessive use, and restricting potentially addictive design features such as ‘streaks’ and ‘infinite scrolling’.

Tougher guidance for schools on mobile phones will make it even clearer that schools need to be phone-free environments and that pupils should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunch times, or between lessons.

Ofsted will examine both schools’ mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented when judging behaviour during inspections. Schools that are struggling will get one-to-one support from Attendance and Behaviour Hub schools that are already effectively implementing phone bans.

Nearly all schools already have mobile phone policies in place – 99.9% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools. However, 58%**of secondary school pupils reported mobile phones being used without permission in at least some lessons, rising to 65% for key stage 4 pupils.(note)

The guidance will be implemented through behaviour management in schools, and by setting out clear expectations for teachers and school staff – including that staff should not use their own mobile phones for personal reasons in front of pupils, setting an example that mobile phones are not necessary in the classroom.

The social media consultation will seek views on a range of measures, including:

determining the right minimum age for children to access social media, including exploring a ban for children under a certain age
exploring ways to improve the accuracy of age assurance for children to support the enforcement of minimum age limits so children have age-appropriate experiences and see age-appropriate content
assessing whether the current digital age of consent is too low
removing or limiting functionalities which drive addictive or compulsive use of social media, such as ‘infinite scrolling’
exploring further interventions to support parents in helping their children navigate the digital landscape, for example further guidance or simpler parental controls

The government this week unveiled new world-leading safety standards at the first government-led Global AI in Education Summit. These will inform tech companies to ensure that AI tools in education cannot use addictive or exploitative patterns, or any features which harm children’s social development and learning. Shaped by the feedback from thousands of pupils across the country, these standards will aim to protect children’s learning and wellbeing from over-reliance on AI.

The consultation forms part of a broader government effort to support children and young people, including through the National Youth Strategy, which is looking at ways to enrich children’s lives in the real world.

The Online Safety Act has already given the UK some of the most robust online safety laws in the world, keeping children safer and illegal content off people’s screens. 8 million people now access adult sites with age checks every day, and the number of visitors to pornography sites has reduced by a third since the rules came into force in July 2025, meaning children are less likely to stumble across material they should never see.
Children encountering age checks online has risen from 30% to 47% since the new rules took effect, and 58% of parents believe the measures are already improving children’s safety online. Ofcom is holding platforms to account, with investigations opened into over 80 pornography websites in 2025 and fines issued to companies that fail to protect young people. (note)

The government has gone further still. Cyberflashing is now a priority offence, so people are better protected from receiving unsolicited nude images. Content encouraging serious self-harm must be actively removed before it can cause harm. And the government has announced plans to ban AI ‘nudification’ tools outright, while working to stop children being able to take, share or view nude images on their devices.

These new proposals would build on this progress, specifically addressing features that can lead to excessive use, regardless of what children are viewing.

Former Nazareth House nuns and retired support worker guilty of non-recent child abuse

Source: Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service(COPFS) published on this website Friday 16 January 2026 by Jill Powell

Two former nuns and a retired support worker have been convicted of abusing vulnerable young people at children’s homes more than 40 years ago.

Carol Buirds, 75, Eileen McElhinney, 78, and Dorothy Kane, 68, were found guilty of subjecting multiple victims to cruel and unnatural treatment between 1972 and 1981.

The offences took place at two homes in Lasswade and Kilmarnock, both run by the Catholic order The Sisters of Nazareth.

The prosecution presented multiple strands of evidence including verbal accounts from former residents, an ex-staff member and a social worker.

Following a five-week trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Buirds, who was known as Sister Carmel Rose, was found guilty of 13 charges including assault to severe injury.

Her offences included rubbing urine-soaked bedding on children and forcing food and soap into their mouths.

She also locked one child in a cupboard and another in an unlit cellar without access to water.

She was also found to have repeatedly assaulted children, often using implements such as a belt, a wooden ruler, and a stick.

McElhinney, who was known as Sister Mary Eileen, was found guilty of five charges including assault.

As well as violently assaulting young children, she also forced them to stand in cold showers and sit in cold baths.

She used a hairbrush to hit one child on the buttocks and hurt another with a metal comb, refusing to stop brushing his hair despite him being in pain.

Kane was found guilty of two charges of cruel and unnatural treatment for repeatedly grabbing a boy, including by the hair, and restraining him by forcing her knees onto his chest.

She also failed to intervene when witnessing another member of staff assaulting the child and forced a second young person into a cupboard before locking him in.

The victims, who are all now adults, were aged between five and 14 when the abuse began.

On 15 January 2026, at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, the three women were sentenced.

Buirds, of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for 15 months.

McElhinney, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, was made subject to a 12-month Probation Order and ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to remain within her home address between the hours of 4pm and midnight for nine months.

Kane, of Lasswade, Midlothian, was given a community service order with a requirement to complete 150 hours of unpaid work within nine months.

Faith Currie, Procurator Fiscal for Lothian and Borders at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said:

“Carol Buirds, Eileen McElhinney and Dorothy Kane were entrusted with the care of vulnerable children, but instead they betrayed that trust and inflicted lasting harm through their criminal actions.

“It is now a matter of public record that they gravely breached their duty of care while holding positions of trust and authority at Nazareth House.

“Although these offences took place decades ago, such abuse has never been acceptable and should never have happened.

“The charge of cruel and unnatural treatment reflects the sustained and systematic nature of this abuse over an extended period.

“Scotland’s prosecutors remain fully committed to bringing non-recent child abuse cases before the courts, no matter how much time has passed since these crimes were committed.”

The government is consulting on the Child Protection Authority (CPA), a national body to improve child protection.

Source: Department for Education published on this website Monday 19 January 2026 by Jill Powell

The CPA is envisaged as an expert, accurate and decisive body that makes the multi-agency child protection system clearer, more unified and ensure there is ongoing improvements through effective evidence-based support.

This consultation seeks views on the CPA’s proposed functions, governance, and interaction with existing bodies. We welcome responses from children and families, frontline practitioners, local authorities, inspectorates, professional bodies, and voluntary, community and statutory organisations involved in safeguarding. Your feedback will help shape the future of child protection in England.

This consultation will be open to the public for twelve weeks. Alongside this consultation, we will be working with children and young people as well as victims and survivors of abuse to seek their views on our proposals.

The Department for Education is inviting views through four main sections of this consultation on:

The overview, scope and design principles of the CPA

Proposals for how the CPA will provide leadership and oversight of the child protection system.

Proposals for how the CPA will provide system learning and support.

Proposals for how the CPA will drive system improvement in the child protection system.

Proposals for how the CPA will be structured and engage with other organisations.

Share your views

Closes 5 Mar 2026

Contact

ChildProtectionAuthority.CONSULTATION@education.gov.uk

Further Information

Establishing a Child Protection Authority consultation document.pdf

Prosecutors are working on the highest ever number of hate crime cases as referrals from police hit record levels.

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Thursday 15 January 2026

The Crown Prosecution Service’s latest performance data for July to September 2025 released today (January 15) shows it received 4,358 cases from police which have been flagged as having a hate crime element. This is a 14.7 per cent increase on the previous quarter – April to June 2025 – and 2.8 per cent more than the same period in 2024.

Prosecutors charged 88.1 per cent of hate crime cases during the three months. In total 4,079 prosecutions were completed during this time, 85 per cent of which resulted in a conviction. Four out of five convictions received a hate crime uplift in the length of the criminals’ sentencing.

Racially motivated hate crimes make up 3,098 of the total hate crime flagged referrals, with homophobic cases at 911 and religiously motivated crimes at 193.

The CPS will continue to monitor data trends and performance, and work with partners to better understand and respond to any shifts in offending patterns.

The CPS has also responded to the government's initial hate crime review to identify where the law can be strengthened to enhance our ability to prosecute, deter offenders and achieve justice for victims.

Lionel Idan, Hate Crime lead and Chief Crown Prosecutor, said:

“It’s deeply concerning to see that hate crimes are now at record levels as we know just how deeply this affects victims and their wider communities.

“Despite this increase in offences, our conviction rates show that when cases come to us, they result in real consequences for those who perpetrate such crimes. I would urge anyone who is a victim of hate crime to come forward and report to the police.”

Despite completing a total of more than 120,000 prosecutions for all crime in this time - 3.4 per cent more than the previous quarter – the live caseload increased by 3.7 per cent to more than 201,000 cases which is the highest number of cases since the pandemic.