The DBS Regional Outreach service
Information around our Partnership and Engagement team and Regional Outreach service.
Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales
This page will act as a hub for all information related to our Partnership and Engagement team, and more specifically, our Regional Safeguarding Outreach Adviser.
The Partnership team
The Partnership and Engagement team at the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) work regularly with other organisations, to identify how we can collaborate and share key messages among the safeguarding community.
The Regional Outreach service, which consists of our Regional Safeguarding Outreach Adviser, has recently been launched within the Partnership and Engagement team.
Regional Outreach team
The Partnership team at the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) work regularly with other organisations, to identify how we can collaborate and share key messages among the safeguarding community. The Partnership Team is responsible for partner and stakeholder engagement across DBS. Our team of Regional Outreach Advisers sit within the Partnership Team and provide dedicated support to organisations within their allocated region.
Who are the Regional Outreach Advisers and what regions do they cover?
The Regional Safeguarding Outreach Advisers are currently working in the following regions:
Region | Outreach Adviser | Contact |
North West | Jordan Hayden | Jordan.Hayden@dbs.gov.uk |
North East | ||
Wales | Carol |
CarolAnn.Eland@dbs.gov.uk |
East Midlands | Elizabeth Whittington | Elizabeth.Whittington@dbs.gov.uk |
East of England | Georgina Mitchell | Georgina.Mitchell1@dbs.gov.uk |
Yorkshire and the Humber | Rebecca Bool | rebecca.bool@dbs.gov.uk |
Greater London | Kiranpreet Rehal | Kiranpreet.rehal@dbs.gov.uk |
South East | Kelly Matthews | Kelly.Matthews@dbs.gov.uk |
South West | Mel Berry | Mel.Berry2@dbs.gov.uk |
West Midlands | Jo Wheatley | Joanne.Wheatley1@dbs.gov.uk |
Northern Ireland |
If you have any general enquiries about the work of the Outreach team, please contact DBSRegionaloutreach@dbs.gov.uk.
How can the Outreach Advisers support my organisation/network?
The Outreach Advisers will be working with organisations and networks within their region in several ways, including:
- answering DBS-related queries and providing advice via phone/email
- attending meetings, training and conferences, or visiting your organisation to have a face-to-face discussion (in line with pandemic restrictions)
- developing and delivering presentations, workshops, webinars or discussions to provide an overview of DBS
- collating feedback, suggestions or comments and feeding this back into DBS
- helping organisations/networks to understand what level of DBS check can be applied for, and what information these checks will provide
- informing organisations and employers of their duty or power to refer
The below video will provide some more information. A transcript for this video is available here:
Please note, this video was launched when our Regional Outreach service was only available in Wales and the East Midlands. As detailed above, we now have Regional Safeguarding Outreach Advisers in a number of other regions.
A spotlight on Allister Woods, Outreach Adviser for Northern Ireland
Allister Woods started working for DBS in November 2020 as a Regional Safeguarding Outreach Adviser for Northern Ireland.
DBS maintains two Barred Lists – the Adults’ Barred List, and the Children’s Barred List – for Northern Ireland (alongside England and Wales), and also makes informed decisions as to whether an individual should be included in one or both lists.
Within Northern Ireland, Allister acts as a single point of contact for organisations who have any barring-related queries, or would like support where safeguarding, referrals, and the legal duty to refer are concerned.
Allister is already working alongside a number of organisations to deliver workshops and events, with both partners and staff.
NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit
The NSPCC’s Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) works to safeguard children in sport. Allister delivered a barring workshop at a CPSU Designated Safeguarding Lead Officer training event, where he discussed barring referrals, how to make a good quality referral, and the importance of doing so. Allister also covered how certain organisations have a legal duty to refer. Feedback from the event was extremely positive, and attendees later took part in a Question and Answer session with Allister, to further maximise understanding.
A number of organisations have since contacted Allister with barring referral-related queries, and he was able to give accurate and relevant advice, and develop his relationship with these organisations, should they need further clarification in the future.
Volunteer Now
Volunteer Now are the lead organisation for supporting and promoting volunteering across Northern Ireland. The organisation have contacted Allister, as their Regional Safeguarding Outreach Adviser, and requested that he deliver a number of barring workshops as part of their safeguarding training programme, for a range of their statutory, private, community, and council partners.
Allister delivered a barring workshop for the staff at Volunteer Now that facilitate their safeguarding training programme, to ensure all content is accurate and up-to-date.
Volunteer Now have also provided Allister with a number of resources that they use when discussing barring referrals, and other barring-related information, so he is able to provide feedback, promoting a consistent approach.
Video: Allister discusses his role within DBS
The Safeguarding Engagement Manager spoke to Allister about his role at DBS, the work he’s doing currently, and how his role supports the wider DBS 2020-25 Strategy.
This video can be found below, and the transcript is available here:
Regional Safeguarding Outreach Adviser, Allister Woods, discusses his role
How to contact Allister
If you or your organisation would be interested in speaking to Allister to look at how he, and the Regional Safeguarding Outreach Programme, can support your organisation with regards to safeguarding, or would like more information about barring referrals, please email Allister via Allister.Woods1@dbs.gov.uk.
Barring referrals and the legal duty to refer
Certain employers and organisations have a legal duty to refer to DBS.
Who has a legal duty to refer?
Regulated activity providers (employers or volunteer managers of people engaging in regulated activity) and personnel suppliers* in Northern Ireland, England and Wales are legally required to make a barring referral to DBS, where conditions are met.
*A personnel supplier may be an employment agency, employment business or an educational institution, and is described as:
- an employment agency that makes arrangements to either find a work-seeker employment with a hirer, or to supply him to a hirer to employ
- an employment business that engages a work-seeker and supplies him to a hirer to work under a hirer’s control
- an educational institution, if it makes arrangements to supply a student - following a course at the institution - to a regulated activity provider such as a school
The two conditions that must be met
If you are a regulated activity provider or fall within the category of personnel supplier, you must make a barring referral to DBS when both of the following conditions have been met:
Condition one
- you withdraw permission for a person to engage in regulated activity with children and/or vulnerable adults, or you move the person to another area of work that isn’t regulated activity
This includes situations when you would have taken the above action, but the person was re-deployed, resigned, retired, or left. For example, a teacher resigns when an allegation of harm to a student is first made.
Condition two
You think the person has carried out one of the following:
- engaged in relevant conduct in relation to children and/or adults; an action or inaction has harmed a child or vulnerable adult or put them at risk or harm
- satisfied the harm test in relation to children and/or vulnerable adults e.g. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child or vulnerable still exists
- been cautioned or convicted of a relevant (automatic barring either with or without the right to make representations) offence
Must I make a referral?
If you are a regulated activity provider, or fall within the category of personnel supplier, you have a legal duty to refer where the relevant conditions are met.
The duty to refer applies even when a report has been made to another body such as a local authority safeguarding team. The duty to refer also applies irrespective of whether another body has made a referral to DBS in relation to the same person.
This helps to make sure that DBS has all of the relevant information to consider a case. DBS can then make a fair, consistent and thorough decision about whether to bar a person from working with vulnerable groups.
A person who is under a duty to refer and fails to do so without reasonable justification is committing an offence, and if convicted, they may be subject to a fine up to £5,000.
How to make a good quality barring referral
The below video explores what information we need as part of a barring referral and why this is important.
How to make a good quality barring referral
A transcript to accompany this video can be found here.
Barring referral guidance
There is a selection of guidance and leaflets available across GOV.UK, which may be of use when making a barring referral:
- Guidance: Making barring referrals to DBS
- Leaflet: Barring referrals – how and when to make one (English)
- Leaflet: Barring referrals – how and when to make one (Welsh)
- Flowchart: Should I make a barring referral?
- Online barring referral form
- Paper barring referral form
Contact us
If you have any questions about barring referrals, please refer to the list of Regional Safeguarding Outreach Advisers.
Last updated
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Update to the regional outreach team contact details.
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Updated contact details for the Regional Outreach Team.
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Outreach Officers added for the East of England, and Yorkshire and the Humber.
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Information added around barring referrals, and the legal duty to refer. Includes a collection of links to guidance that may be useful for organisations who have a legal duty to refer, or the power to refer, and a video that explores the information we need as part of a barring referral and why this is important.
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Page updated with information about the Safeguarding Outreach Officer for Northern Ireland. This includes information about support that can be provided to safeguarding and recruiting organisations across Northern Ireland.
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Page updated with information about our Regional Outreach Service, and our Regional Safeguarding Outreach Officers. This includes how the service can benefit your organisation or network, what regions are currently covered and who to contact for your region.
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First published.
Update history
2025-01-28 09:48
Contact details for the Adviser for South East has been updated
2024-10-02 15:12
Details of advisers have been updated
2024-09-20 14:36
Email addresses have been updated.
2024-01-11 15:48
Update to the South East adviser.
2023-10-11 14:30
Addition of Sean Maskey as Northern Ireland Regional Outreach Adviser.
2023-07-06 11:47
Update to the North East regional outreach adviser
2023-01-30 15:35
Update to the regional outreach team contact details.
2022-11-23 14:38
Updated contact details for the Regional Outreach Team.
2022-04-11 15:03
Outreach Officers added for the East of England, and Yorkshire and the Humber.