DBS certificates for overseas work
IICSA · Children Outside the United Kingdom Phase 2 Investigation Report · Issued 30 January 2020 · Addressed to: Home Office
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
The Home Office should introduce legislation permitting the Disclosure and Barring Service to provide enhanced certificates to UK nationals and residents of England and Wales applying for: 1. work or volunteering with UK-based organisations, where the recruitment decision is taken outside the UK; or 2. work or volunteering with organisations based outside the UK, in each case where the work or volunteering would be a regulated activity if in the UK.
IICSA, Children Outside the United Kingdom Phase 2 Investigation Report · 30 Jan 2020 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- In May 2023, the government stated that it accepted this recommendation and would consider introducing legislation for enhanced DBS certificates for overseas work, subject to the Bailey Review (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- No published legislation permitting the DBS to provide enhanced certificates for overseas work or volunteering with children as specified has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 21 January 2021, the Home Office stated that the UK government would continue to work with ACRO to publicise the existence of the International Child Protection Certificate, and to improve employers' understanding of the certificate and when it can be used. On 17 June 2021, the UK government stated that its position had not changed in relation to this recommendation. A second Inquiry recommendation on the geographical reach of the Disclosure and Barring Service scheme was made (see row 69).
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.