Mandatory DBS for work with children overseas

18. We have considered carefully the recommendation to introduce legislation to make it mandatory for UK nationals and residents of England and Wales to provide prospective employers with an enhanced DBS certificate before undertaking work overseas which would be regulated activity if it took place in the UK. As indicated above, the Government recognises the value of any employer being able to use criminal record information as part of their recruitment process and is committed to ensuring that overseas employers are able to access the information they need when making recruitment decisions in respect of UK residents. 19. However, although this recommendation envisages placing the legal obligation on UK nationals, it would in effect amount to the UK Government legislating in respect of employment practices in foreign countries. Foreign employers have to work within their own domestic disclosure regimes which are very different across the world, where they exist, and this recommendation would require foreign partners to undertake checks as if they were in England and Wales, with no regard for their domestic requirements. Such an approach would require extraterritorial legislation, compliance with which would be almost impossible to monitor and subsequently very difficult to enforce. We do not consider that such an approach would be effective in increasing safeguarding in other countries.

Such an approach would require extraterritorial legislation, compliance with which would be almost impossible to monitor and subsequently very difficult to enforce. We do not consider that such an approach would be effective in increasing safeguarding in other countries.

31. In its final report, published in October 2022, IICSA repeated recommendation 3 (as Recommendation 11 in the final report), but not recommendation 4 (which would make the provision of enhanced certificates mandatory).