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In most cases, people with a criminal record would prefer to keep this hidden and not tell anyone about it unless absolutely necessary. If you’ve ever thought that you’re the only person with a criminal record at your employer or in your circle of friends you’re probably wrong. Around 11 million adults in the UK have a criminal record.

The latest on the Brexit news from the UK is that it has been delayed – again – until the UK goes through a General Election campaign for a vote on 12th December. The main group affected by this are European citizens who are living and working in the UK, with another delay to Brexit just adding to the uncertainty.

After you have filled in your DBS application form, the next step is to put together some documents to back up your identity and address history. Lots of the websites you see will talk about recent and original documents but what exactly does this mean?

One of the big misconceptions about the DBS system is that it just applies to people who are going to be working with children. In fact, disclosure checks apply to a much wider group of workers, often in sectors which have little to do with childcare. There’s been so much publicity about DBS for childcare workers that this had led to a very confusing picture.

Most of us have heard of disclosure checks, or the system which went before it, the Criminal Record Bureau checks. This is the type of police check you need for a huge range of jobs involving positions of responsibility, or working with children and vulnerable groups.

Sometimes it seems like there are more hoops than ever to jump through when you want a new job. Gone are the days when you’d phone up about a job advert, have a quick chat on the phone and start the next day. Increasingly, employers are running a large number of checks on workers.

In 2019, we’re all about speed. If we see something we want online, there’s an option for next day delivery, and shops are open around the clock. So it can come as a bit of a surprise when you’re confronted with delay. That’s certainly the case when it comes to DBS checks.

If you’re not sure whether you’ve heard of DBS Update or not, you’re not alone. The system has been plagued by computer problems since it started, and a project to modernise the entire system is running years over schedule.

Getting a DBS check done is something which thousands of people do each year. There’s a lot of press coverage about the system, which looks into people’s criminal records. Most of the coverage is about the sort of DBS checks which people need to work with children or vulnerable adults.

Rules are there to be broken, right? Well perhaps in some cases. But certainly not when you are applying for your disclosure certificate. The Disclosure and Barring Service has plenty of rules in place and if you ignore them, your application will be rejected.