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FR-10

Improve DBS Referral Compliance

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)

DeliveryHome Office says in progress (Jan 2026)UK Government says in progress (Apr 2025)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation, K.4

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government takes steps to improve compliance by regulated activity providers with their statutory duty to refer concerns about the suitability of individuals to work with children to the Disclosure and Barring Service, including: all relevant regulators and inspectorates include compliance with the statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service in their assessment of safeguarding procedures during inspections; the National Police Chiefs' Council works with relevant regulators and inspectorates to ensure that there are clear arrangements in place to refer breaches of the duty to refer to the police for criminal investigation; and an information-sharing protocol is put in place between the Disclosure and Barring Service and relevant regulators and inspectorates.

IICSA, The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · 20 Oct 2022 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

In January 2026, Home Office Minister Jess Phillips stated that the government and the Disclosure and Barring Service were conducting an ongoing programme of work to improve compliance with the duty to refer, delivering workshops to more than 12,000 safeguarding staff and increasing referrals by over 50 percent regionally (Jess Phillips, Jan 2026). Previously, in May 2024, the Thirlwall Inquiry legal team examined the measure and recorded the government's acceptance without assessing it as fully implemented (The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team, May 2024).

Sources

Jess Phillips, Jan 2026

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

Words of: HM Government, Government response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (CP 844), presented to Parliament by the Home Secretary, May 2023

We accept the need to improve compliance with statutory duties to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children. We will work with the relevant bodies to do so.

Extract from: Government response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Delivery

●Home Office says in progress · 21 Jan 2026

The Government, working with the DBS, has been driving forward a continuous programme of work to improve employers’ and stakeholders’ understanding of, and compliance with, their statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children. That work has included bespoke workshops on the legal duty to refer, how to make a good quality barring referral and recognising when it may be appropriate to refer someone to DBS because of harm caused outside the workplace. Through these workshops the DBS has reached over 12,000 individuals working in safeguarding roles. Since the DBS Outreach Service was introduced the number of referrals has increased by over 50% in every region.

From: Written question 105512, "Vetting", asked by Sarah Pochin, tabled 13 January 2026, answered 21 January 2026

Site note: Home Office written answer of 21 January 2026. The same answer was given to ten questions tabled on 13 January 2026 about the Inquiry's recommendations; it reports under one heading per recommendation, and the row is the passage under the heading "Disclosure and Barring Service", cited to the question that asks about it.

●UK Government says in progress · 9 Apr 2025

During 2025 and 2026, working with the DBS, we will drive forward a continuous programme of work to improve compliance with the statutory duty to inform the DBS about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children.

From: Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update (accessible version)

What other bodies have found

In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.

●Thirlwall Inquiry legal team · 15 May 2024

Government response to final report (25 May 2023): Accepted.

“We accept the need to improve compliance with statutory duties to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children. We will work with the relevant bodies to do so.”

From: The Thirlwall Inquiry: Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024)

Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 31.2 No. 10, PDF page 857-858.

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.