HOW DO I SUBMIT A DBS CHECK?
Before you are involved in mini or junior football, you are required to complete an enhanced check for regulated activity. In order for you to do this, please contact your club safeguarding officer and they will be able to submit a DBS application on the club online DBS account. Your club safeguarding officer will require three forms of ID to enable them to complete the verification stage. Please click on the following link for guidance on what ID documents can be accepted: DBS ID checking guidelines
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO COMPLETE A DBS CHECK?
The DBS check is free of charge for all volunteers. The FAW will cover the £4 administration fee for each DBS application. For paid coaches, a DBS check costs £44.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR A DBS APPLICATION TO BE PROCESSED?
Once submitted, your DBS will take anywhere between 72 hours to a 60 days to be processed. Your club verifier cannot submit an escalation request until the application has been on stage 4 for 60 days. Please click on the following link for more information regarding the different stages of the DBS checking process: Stages of DBS checking process
WHAT DO I DO ONCE I RECEIVE THE DBS CERTIFICATE?
If you have completed a DBS check through your club and you have received a clear DBS certificate, you are not required to send in a copy of the DBS certificate to the FAW. The FAW Safeguarding Team will receive notification that your DBS check is clear and will then add this to your comet profile. If you do not yet have a comet ID number, please contact your club comet champion as it is compulsory that you are registered in your role through your club on comet.
If there is an offence on your DBS certificate, you are required to send a copy of the DBS Certificate into the FAW Safeguarding Team to enable us to complete an assessment and determine if you can be provided with clearance for junior related football activity.
Please note that you should not involve yourself in junior football related activity until you have received clearance by the FAW Safeguarding Team or have a confirmed registration on the comet system. Please send a copy of your DBS certificate to safeguarding@faw.cymru.
Failure to provide a copy of your DBS certificate to the FAW will result in a non-compliance suspension and this suspension cannot be revoked until the DBS certificate has been received.
WILL I BE ALLOWED TO COACH IF I HAVE CONTENT ON MY DBS?
Policy on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders
As an organisation using the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to assess applicants’ suitability for positions of trust, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) complies fully with the DBS Code of Practice and undertakes to treat all applicants for positions fairly. It undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a Disclosure on the basis of conviction or other information revealed.
The FAW is committed to the fair treatment of its staff, potential staff or users of its services, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or parental status, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or offending background.
This is a written policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, which is available to anyone in the recruitment process or who has an interest in this Policy.
We actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills, and potential and welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including those with criminal records. We select all candidates for interview based on their skills, qualifications, and experience.
A Disclosure is only requested after a thorough risk assessment has indicated that one is both proportionate and relevant to the position concerned. For those positions where a Disclosure is required, all application forms, job adverts and recruitment briefs will contain a statement that a Disclosure will be requested in the event of the individual being offered the position.
Where a Disclosure is to form part of the recruitment process, we encourage all applicants called for interview to provide details of their criminal record at an early stage in the application process. We guarantee that this information is only seen by those who need to see it as part of the recruitment process.
Unless the nature of the position allows the FAW to ask questions about your entire criminal record we only ask about "unspent" convictions as defined in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
We ensure that all those in the FAW who are involved in the recruitment process have knowledge of the relevant legislation relating to the employment of ex-offenders and are able to assess the relevance and circumstances of offences to the position applied for.
At interview, or in a separate discussion, we ensure that an open and measured discussion takes place on the subject of any offences or other matter that might be relevant to the position. Failure to reveal information that is directly relevant to the position sought could lead to withdrawal of an offer of employment.
At any time, any subject of a DBS check may request a copy of the DBS Code of Practice.
We undertake to discuss any matter revealed in a Disclosure with the person seeking the position before withdrawing a conditional offer of employment.
Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of your offences.
HOW LONG WILL THE DBS BE VALID FOR?
The DBS certificate is valid for three years, from the issue date on the certificate. We advise that you get in contact with your club safeguarding officer three months prior to your DBS expiring. Please also see information below on subscribing the the DBS update service.
DO I NEED TO COMPLETE A DBS APPLICATION THROUGH MY CLUB IF I ALREADY HAVE A DBS?
If you have a valid DBS check through an FAW affiliated club, this will be transferable to all FAW affiliated clubs and therefore you will not need to complete a new DBS application.
If you have a DBS check outide of our organisation, we can only accept this if you are registered to the DBS update service. If so, please email your DBS certificate, comet ID number and consent for a member of the FAW Safeguarding Team to carry out a check on the DBS update service. This can be sent to safeguarding@faw.cymru
If you are not registered to the DBS Update Service, we cannot accept the DBS certificate and a new DBS application will need to be submitted through your club DBS online account. Please contact your Club Safeguarding Officer to do this.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DBS UPDATE SERVICE
We encourage anyone submitting a DBS check to sign up to the DBS Update Service as this enables:
- applicants to keep their DBS certificates up to date without submitting a new DBS application
- enable the FAW to carry out a check on the DBS Update Service to enable us to renew the DBS
Subscribing to the DBS Update Service is free of charge for all volunteers.
Please note that when you receive notification that the DBS is due to expire, it is your responsibility to contact the FAW Safeguarding Team to request that we carry out a check on the DBS Update Service.
Please click on the following link to subscribe: DBS Update Service