Greater Use of DBS
IICSA · The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · Issued 20 October 2022 · Addressed to: UK Government
Government responseUK Government: Accepted in part (May 2023)
DeliveryUK Government says in progress (May 2026)
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, K.4
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.
IICSA, The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · 20 Oct 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
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.
Government response
●UK Government · Accepted in part · 22 May 2023
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.
Extract from: Government response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
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
Earlier statements on delivery (0)
●UK Government · 9 Apr 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
●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.”
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.