Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to enable individuals who are self-employed to apply for Disclosure and Barring Service certificates relating to themselves; and if she will make a statement.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates are designed to help employers make more informed recruitment decisions.
Self-employed people cannot apply directly to the DBS for a standard or enhanced criminal record certificate. This is because the legislation requires that the purpose of the check is to assess the individual’s suitability for a particular post or activity, and that a recruiting organisation must confirm the eligibility of a position for a criminal records check. A self-employed individual cannot assess their own suitability to work in a specific role.

Self-employed people may obtain basic criminal record checks, which provide details of unspent convictions or may seek standard or enhanced checks for eligible posts if they are working with employment agencies or other employers such as schools or local authorities.