DBS checks delayed for councillors in Sandwell

Councillors in the borough debated recommendations from the ethics and standards committee for DBS checks for elected members in certain roles.

It comes as a motion was approved in December by the council at its full meeting to consider enhanced checks for elected members in their work programme.

At the last ethical and standards committee meeting, held in February, the committee approved the introduction of DBS Checks for specific member roles, subject to council approval.

Those members include the leader, deputy leader, cabinet members for children and adults, members of children's services and education scrutiny board and members of health and adults social care scrutiny board.

Councillor Bob Piper asked for a deferment on the decision, suggesting it should be obligatory for all members. He said: “I’ve got some concerns about this really to be honest. This asks for consent to announce DBS checks for a specific number of members predominantly around the leadership and scrutiny positions

“I think every elected member potentially comes into contact with vulnerable adults. If I have received a phone call at home asking to make a home visit to someone who’s a victim of domestic abuse, I need them to have confidence that I can deal with that and deal with it properly without any sort of fear that I haven’t had a criminal record check. I feel that the enhanced DBS check should be obligatory for all elected members.”

Councillor Ellen Fenton said: “I’d put forward that nearly every person who reaches out to me in my role as an elected member does so with those drivers behind them, making them a vulnerable person. So having read the report […] I’ve come to the conclusion that all elected members would fall under the last bullet point.”

Former council leader Yvonne Davies said it was a ‘red herring’ to introduce DBS checks, and asked the chambers whether public money could be better spent elsewhere.

She said: “I think members misunderstand what a DBS check is for. It is people who have substantial unsupervised access to children or vulnerable people. It is telling you about people who have done things. The vast majority of perpetrators have not been caught. We need systems in place to make sure that members are acting with integrity, with honesty, and conducting their behaviour in accordance with what we would expect.

“A DBS check doesn’t do that. What it does, it tells you at a point in time whether someone’s been caught. My question would be, given that we’ve not had DBS is in the past. How many problems have there been in terms of unsupervised access to vulnerable people within this council? Or within other councils? Because I’m not sure we’re not chasing a red herring. And I don’t want public money spent for no good purpose.”

Councillor Bill Gavan said individuals should pay ‘even before they are elected’. The motion was carried for a deferment for the policy to be sent back to the ethics and standards committee.