This meeting was to consider a new policy on Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for the Elected Mayor and Councillors of Hackney.

Policy on Disclosure and Barring Service Checks for the Elected Mayor and Councillors

The committee was asked to recommend to Full Council that it adopt a new policy regarding the vetting of its members using the Disclosure and Barring Service.¹ The proposed policy would require all Councillors and the Elected Mayor to undergo an Enhanced DBS check upon taking office, and every year after.

The report prepared for the meeting argues that there is no evidence that DBS checks have a negative impact on the number of people standing for election, and that such checks are an important part of the council's duty to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

The introduction of DBS checks will not provide absolute certainty that the circumstances in which the Council has most recently found itself could not be repeated. However, it is considered that the introduction of such checks would serve as a deterrent to those who might seek office to provide camouflage for their activities or as a method through which access to children, young people and vulnerable adults is legitimised. ² The report acknowledges that the council has no power to remove a Councillor or the Elected Mayor from office based on the results of a DBS check, except in the extremely limited circumstances in which the person is found to be disqualified from public office under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972.

The report includes a detailed explanation of how the results of a DBS check would be used by the council to assess risk, and the process by which it would decide what actions to take in the event that a potential safeguarding concern is raised by the results of a check.