Safeguarding

Every local deaf children's society needs to appoint a Designated Person for Safeguarding.

There are 3 types of criminal record checks:

• Disclosure and Barring Service - DBS (for groups in England and Wales)
• Access NI (for groups in Northern Ireland)
• Protecting Vulnerable Groups - PVG (for groups in Scotland)

Please see the relevant sections below for further guidance.

As an affiliated local deaf children's society, we cover the cost for any of the above criminal record checks for volunteer committee members, and this should be renewed every three years.

If you are in England and Wales you can help save us vital funds by registering for the update service. With your consent, we can run an update check on your behalf every three years. This means that individuals only have to process an application once, so it will only cost us once, and you won't have to complete another application form. However, you only have 30 days from your DBS certificate date to register.

Who needs a criminal record check?

• The group's Designated Person for Safeguarding
• At least 2 other committee members, preferably including the Chair
• Anyone else on the committee: there is no limit to how many checks you can process
• Any individuals involved in 'regulated activity.' That is, individuals who undertake regular unsupervised activities or work in a range of establishments, which give the opportunity to come into contact with children and/or young people. For example, groups may have someone externally come and provide a regular service, such as a weekly playgroup or individuals that volunteer at events/with activities regularly.

Step 1 - your Designated Person for Safeguarding (DP) will:

• ask you to sign a consent form, permitting information resulting from DBS checks to be shared with us
• need your full name and email address
• then email you a link, a login and a password so you can access the online application.

Step 2 - the online application:

• using the link your DP will give you, access the system and select the ‘Enhanced DBS application’ option (the orange box), and log in using the credentials your DP provided
• follow the instructions online and complete the application with your personal details (this should take about 10 minutes)
• in ‘Position Applied For’ select your role e.g. DCS Chair. If you don’t have a specific role but are on the committee please select DCS committee member, or if you are a volunteer there is an option for DCS volunteer.

Step 3 – verify your ID:

• you will need to let your Designated Person know when you have completed the online application and are ready to meet with them face to face, so they can verify your ID documents and then log into the system and record the ID they have seen.

DBS identity documentation

Applicants must show a certain set of documentation to their Designated Person to prove their identity.

DBS Identity Documents PDF 

Step 4 - Receiving your disclosure certificate:

• only you will be sent the Disclosure Certificate to your home address. However we will receive notification if anything has been disclosed on your certificate (though not the nature of the disclosure).
  You must show your DP your disclosure certificate.

Step 5 - If there are any disclosures:

• your DP will consult with the Head of Local Groups and yourself in regards to your involvement with the groups
• with support from us, your DP will complete a risk assessment on the information disclosed to see how it may affect your involvement with children
• your DP will confirm how you can continue to be involved with the group.

Update service

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) offer an update service which will allow applicants to refresh their information on their criminal record check, for free. Click on our Update service section below to find out more.

Have you completed a DBS criminal record application?

Lucky you! Because you have completed a DBS criminal record check, it means you can now register, free, with the online update service and never have to do another DBS application for your volunteer role in your local deaf children's charity. You don't even have to wait until you receive your certificate in the post, you can apply immediately after your application is submitted.

Being registered on the update service also means you can use the same criminal record check for any future volunteer roles, so its well worth doing.

The small print...

You can only register for the DBS Update Service within 30 days of the result date on your certificate (which you will receive in the post), so you need to act fast. Even better, once you've submitted your application to DBS you can register using your DBS application reference number. The Local Groups team will send you a reminder email about this once they have been notified of your certificate result.

Once registered, all you need to do next is complete and return a consent form permitting us and your Designated Person for Safeguarding to run an update on your criminal record when your DBS is up for renewal, or for random spot checks. You will only need to submit this once, and you will not need to apply for a criminal records check again for the duration of your time in your local deaf children's society.

Update Service Consent Form PDF

Step 1 - your Designated Person for Safeguarding (DP) will:

• ask you to sign a consent form permitting information resulting from PVG checks to be shared with us
• need your full name, postal address and if you are already enrolled on the PVG scheme (this will determine the type of application form you complete and you won’t be required to show ID documents again)
• forward this information to us, so we can send out the appropriate applications to complete directly to you.

Step 2 - the application:

• following the accompanying guidance, complete the relevant sections of the application. You will see that some areas have been completed already by the Local Groups team e.g. listed you as a volunteer, the name of your local DCS and some organisational codes
• ensure your position involves working with children
• ensure you are listed as a volunteer
• NB. please leave the counter-signatory section blank – this is for the Local Groups team use only.

Step 3 - meet with your DP and prove your identity:

• once completed, contact your DP and arrange a time to meet so they verify your original identity documentation.
• your DP will take photocopies, and sign and date these
• you or your DP will then need to post your completed application and the signed/dated photocopies of your ID back to the Local Groups team.

PVG identity documentation

Applicants must show their Designated Person a certain set of documentation to prove their identity through the PVG scheme. See the list:

PVG Identity Documents PDF

Step 4 - Receiving your disclosure certificate:

• you will be sent the Disclosure Certificate to your home address. We will also receive a copy.

Step 5 - If there are any disclosures:

• your DP will consult with the Head of Local Groups and yourself in regards to your involvement with the groups.
• with support from us, your DP will complete a risk assessment on the information disclosed to see how it may affect your involvement with children.
• your DP will confirm how you can continue to be involved with the group.

Step 1 - Your Designated Person for Safeguarding (DP) will:

• ask you to sign a consent form permitting information resulting from Access NI checks to be shared with us
• need your full name and email address
• email you a PIN notification and ID Validation form and an ID list, along with some instructions (or the Local Groups team will email you these directly).

Step 2 - The application:

• please follow the instructions you will receive in the PIN notification and ID Validation form
• access to the application form is via NI Direct, which is a government website
• you will need to create an account, or you may have one already as a resident in Northern Ireland
• complete the form, using your details. Don't forget to note down your reference number on the form
• ensure you select an enhanced check.

Step 3 - Meet with your DP and prove your identity:

• once completed, contact your DP and arrange a time to meet so they verify your original identity documentation
• your DP will then complete the ID validation section of the form and photocopy your ID documents and sign/date the copies, before either posting or scanning/emailing all the documents to the Local Groups team
• the Local Groups team will then email your form and photocopies of your ID to our umbrella body for processing.

Access NI identity documentation

Applicants must show their Designated Person a certain set of documentation to prove their identity. See the list:

Access NI identity documentation PDF

Step 4 - Receiving your disclosure certificate:

• you will be sent the Disclosure Certificate to your home address. We will also receive a copy.

Step 5 - If there are any disclosures:

• your DP will consult with the Head of Local Groups and yourself in regards to your involvement with the groups
• with support from us, your DP will complete a risk assessment on the information disclosed to see how it may affect your involvement with children
• your DP will confirm how you can continue to be involved with the group.

This is a mandatory role for all local groups: it is an individual who advocates safeguarding and child protection within your group by sharing information, training and resources. They are also the ones who can process criminal record checks on behalf of your group.

Everyone is responsible for safeguarding but your Designated Person would be the ‘go-to’ person for any safeguarding or child protection concerns. They are also a way for us to disseminate important information around safeguarding and child protection to your wider group.

Who should be the Designated Person?

Anyone on your committee! Some groups usually tack this on to their roles as Chair, Secretary or Treasurer, or you can also job share this role if you wish.

No previous experience or knowledge in child protection or safeguarding is required, we offer free online training and resources, and talk you through the criminal record check process. Some skills which are useful to the role, though, are:

• Good IT skills and access to a computer
• Good organisational skills
• Responsible with individuals' personal data
• Ability to have a good record in keeping systems
• Ability to be flexible and meet up with individuals to verify documents and view certificates

We have developed an easy-to-follow guide which details the role, responsibilities and administrative tasks involved. It can sound like a lot, but there is a dedicated team here to support you with any problems and answer any queries.

Once you get going, it really is quite simple and we hope the handy guide below helps you to keep track:

Designated Person for Safeguarding Guide PDF

We have also created a closed Facebook forum for anyone in the role of Designated Person for Safeguarding, but any committee member can join. As well as a space to share and discuss, the group is designed to keep you up to date with useful documents/templates, online training, and information on safeguarding children and young people. If you are a committee member of a local group and would like to join the group, please email the Local Groups team: [email protected] 

Fancy being your group's Designated Person?

Just contact us on [email protected] and we can guide you through the process and get you set up.