Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 19 October 2016 to Questions 48326 to 48331, which are the limited number of sensitive roles referred to in that Answer; what level of DBS check is required for those roles; and what criteria or guidance her Department has issued for ensuring appropriate risk assessments are carried out by its Compass providers.

It is the responsibility of the COMPASS providers to undertake the appropriate pre-employment checks and risk assessments in accordance with their legal and contractual obligations (as set out in Section 1.2 of the Statement of Requirements and Schedule 9 of the Terms and Conditions). It is not possible to list a specific set of COMPASS roles requiring criminal records checks as job roles will vary from one COMPASS provider to another. All COMPASS roles which include contact with service users will be subject to an appropriate level of criminal records check depending on the specifics of the role.

Individuals without the appropriate clearance, conduct, skills or qualifications for their role should not be on COMPASS service provision. Providers are monitored closely to ensure that they undertake appropriate risk assessments in relation to their employees and that there is no risk posed to service users. For criminal records checks, the Disclosure and Barring Service publishes details and guidance for employers on eligibility and levels of clearance required for roles that may be deemed as sensitive as a result of working with children and adults. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-eligibility-guidance