Regulatory Update: Discontinuing List 99 Licenses for Third-Party Providers
UPDATE: As of the 1st APril Personnel CHecks can no longer legally carry out List 99 Checks.
Late on Friday 19th March, we received the first notice from the Department for Education (DfE) regarding significant changes. The existing List 99 system that we are licensed to use is being overhauled and its use is now limited solely to employers in educational settings. As such, the existing system will be closed permanently to Personnel Checks from the 31st March.
To be clear, this means that only schools, colleges, further education institutions and the like are legally entitled to access the replacement system. Education recruiters, auxiliary service providers and background screening companies like ourselves will no longer be legally entitled to access this information for recruitment purposes.
We are urgently requesting clarification from the DfE about our ongoing relationships with education providers. Many schools and colleges don’t have the resources to be able to manage background screening processes for themselves. Outsourcing this to us provides relief to a sector that is already overstretched administratively.
From the communications we’ve received, there should not be any gap or risk created by the change in the way DfE facilitates list checks. However, a lot remains unanswered at this point about how organisations who rely on this system will adapt under the new guidance.
Understandably, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about this, so we’ve tried to present an answer to some of the more common queries we’ve received:
Can you still run List 99’s?
As of the 1st April 2021, Personnel Checks no longer have a licence to be able to process List 99 Checks.
Does this affect the Enhanced DBS Checks you process?
No. The process for applying for an Enhanced DBS Check is distinct from the system used for running individual List 99 checks. If your candidates are eligible for an Enhanced DBS Check with the Child Barred Lists included, this will remain the same and DBS Checks will be getting processed as normal.
Timescales for Barred List Checks
One of the best qualities of running a List 99 Check was that you could normally have an instant confirmation about whether an individual is barred from working with children. This is ideal for emergencies where relief staff are needed urgently but there’s no time to wait for an Enhanced DBS Check.
The results of an Enhanced DBS Check including a check of the Child Barred Lists takes on average 2 weeks to come through. From our perspective, discontinuing licenses for third-party providers creates inflexibility in an already understaffed sector.
We’re a school that uses you for List 99’s, what do we do?
If you are an education provider such as a school or college, from the 31st March you will need to process List 99 checks through the new system yourselves. We aren’t sure what this process looks like from your perspective, we would recommend reaching out to the DfE directly for clarification of this matter.
The reason behind the change is down to the fact the exisiting List 99 system was only intended to be a temporary solution. Communications from the DfE were suppposed to be issued much earlier but die to a high court challenge, they were unable to advise both ourselves and the majority of education providers of the coming changes.
What are we doing?
As members of the Criminal Records Trade Body (CRTB), Personnel Checks are passionate about ensuring a fair and transparent industry that benefits UK employers. The work we do is integral for the compliance of thousands of public and private sector organisations. This is why, alongside our colleagues in the CRTB, Personnel Checks are lobbying the DfE for an extension to the timescale for the proposed changes.
As part of our lobbying campaign, it is vitally important we gain candid feedback from those that rely on this system for their compliance needs. By sharing this with the DfE we hope to open a dialogue that ensures these changes work for the benefit of everyone.
UPdATE: Despite our lobbying campaign, we have been unable to delay the DfE’s timescales for the changes. We are extremely disappointed with the decision and will continue to communicate directly with the DFE for clarification of what this means for our clients.
We intend to keep this article updated as and when we receive further updates from the DfE. To make sure you don’t miss out on key information, be sure to follow us on social media and sign up for our mailing list.