Introduction
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Anyone who works or volunteers for, or on behalf of, a forum should understand how to recognise potential safeguarding concerns and know what action to take if a concern arises.
As organisations working with families and communities, forums are committed to promoting the safety and wellbeing of everyone they engage with. Having clear safeguarding arrangements helps protect children and vulnerable adults, who may be at risk. It also reassures steering group members, staff, volunteers, parent carers and the wider public that safeguarding is taken seriously.
Forums can support a good safeguarding culture by:
- Including safeguarding training and DBS checks as part of an induction package
- Ensuring safeguarding training is kept up to date
- Having policies and procedures to support safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults
- Identifying a forum safeguarding lead or leads who undertake additional training in responding to safeguarding concerns – If you are hosted the safeguarding lead may be from the host organisation
It’s important that you get local safeguarding training so that everyone in the steering group/directors/staff/trustees know how to recognise and raised a safeguarding concern locally.
- NSPCC – safeguarding policies, training, templates
- Ann Craft Trust – safeguarding adults in community organisations
- UK Government – statutory safeguarding guidance
- Report child abuse to a local council: search result – GOV.UK – you can search for where to report by entering the postcode.
Parent Carer Forums should have clear safeguarding policies and procedures in place to ensure that any concerns about the welfare of children or vulnerable adults are recognised and responded to appropriately. We have more information and example templates on our Policies and Procedures page of the handbook.
If you need support to follow your polices or you want some guidance please contact your Contact Adviser.
Video: Safeguarding training for forums
Disclosure barring service (DBS) Checks for Forums
Why forums get DBS checks:
- Working with vulnerable adults (remember some parent carers will be vulnerable)
- Running events or working with children.
- Working in schools where a DBS is required. Not all schools will require you to have a DBS check, depending on the type of work you are doing and whether you are going to be supervised or not.
- Local Authority or other area partner requirements.
- Safeguarding responsibilities.
- Protecting safety and reputation of the forum, e.g checking that the people working in the forum are suitable for the role?
- Positions of power and trust within the community. Forum’s have close working relationships with services and are the ‘voice’ of parent carers within the community.
- Protecting the forum from illegal activity. It is illegal to let people carry out ‘regulated activities’ not allowed to.
Considerations for DBS Checks
Forums need to decide if the people who fulfil roles for the forum (staff, directors, trustees, volunteers or self-employed people) require DBS checks. There are some additional requirements for trustees – DBS checks for trustees | NCVO.
There is no legal requirement to get DBS checks if forums or people with forum roles are not taking part in a ‘regulated activity’. But it is good practice. We do recommend that forums get at least a basic check for all active forum members. It’s part of a commitment to effective safeguarding and making sure that the people involved in the forum are suitable for carrying out their role.
There is a legal requirement for DBS checks for certain ‘regulated activities’. Your forum will need to assess what level of check each role in the forum will need to carry out their work.
When considering if people need a DBS check think, about your role descriptions and ask the questions:
- Who the person will be working with?
- What work or activities will they carry out?
- Determine if the activity is frequent enough to be classed as ‘regulated’.
Example 1
X forum are a constituted group and have a steering group with a paid administrator and volunteer parent representatives. The forum run 4-6 coffee mornings, training events and some focus groups through the year. They run a summer holiday event and a Christmas event. They decided that they don’t run any regulated activity because parent carers are always present at the family events and remain responsible for their children. The forum only run two of those kinds of events a year. No forum member is left alone with any of the children. They decided that they needed to carry out basic DBS checks in discussion with their LA.
Example 2
X forum has additional funding from the Local authority and health services. They’re a Charitable incorporated Association. They have eight trustees, a steering group, six parent representatives, five paid staff and four volunteers. They run 8 family events during the year and allow parents to bring their children. Two play workers are present at events to give parents a break from children and to enable the forum to speak to the parents about their experiences. They reviewed the information on regulated activity and decided that as they run regular events for families and look after the children for a period of time, that the play workers and the staff involved in running the events needed to have full DBS checks.
Example 3
X forum has additional funding from the national lottery and a contract that the local authority and health jointly fund. They became a Community Interest Company with 3 Directors and a steering group. The Directors are paid to carry out some of the work in the forum and they have a paid administrator. They hold 12 events for parent carers through the year and some parents bring their children, though the parents remain responsible for their children at all times. They also run focus groups, conferences and training sessions for parent carers. They decided that they weren’t involved in any regulated activity, but the LA requested that the Directors, staff and steering group had DBS checks. The Directors and staff all had full DBS checks and the steering group had basic checks.
Payment for DBS Checks:
Some forums pay for DBS checks for staff and volunteers as part of paying for out of pocket expenses. Others may ask individuals to pay themselves, especially if they are working as self-employed. The cost of the check varies depending on what level it is and whether you need another organisation to apply for you or not.
IMPORTANT: If someone is doing self employed work with the forum, you will need to make sure they have the correct level of DBS check for the work they are going to be doing. In most cases this will be a basic check. The proof they need to supply can vary, usually it’s a scanned copy or photo of the paper document. If they apply online, they can supply the forum with a code so you can access the results online.
Levels of DBS Checks
Request a basic DBS check – GOV.UK
Roles: Anyone can apply, including self-applications. Anyone can request for someone to have this check, it is good practice to let people know you will ask them to get a DBS check as part of their employment or volunteering. You should also let people know if you are expecting them or the forum to pay for this service.
Disclosures: Unspent convictions and conditional cautions.
If you want to request above a basic check, you will need to ensure you are legally entitled to ask for this. A registered umbrella organisation will need to do anything above a basic check . There will usually be an admin cost on top of the fee for the check. This can be £10-20.
You can find umbrella organisations here: Welcome to the Home Office umbrella body search
Roles: Specific roles under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (e.g., medical practitioners, solicitors). This level of check is unlikely to apply to forums as it covers specific careers.
Disclosures: Spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, and reprimands.
Volunteers can use this service for free but note that the umbrella organisation will probably still charge the admin fee. Volunteers must not be in receipt of any money from the forum beyond out-of-pocket expenses.
Roles: if the person is involved in ‘work with adults’ or ‘work with children’. These terms have specific definitions: Eligibility guidance for enhanced DBS checks – GOV.UK
Disclosures: Spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, reprimands, and relevant non-conviction information from local police.
Roles: For people involved in ‘regulated activity’ with children or adults.
Regulated activity with children in England and Wales – GOV.UK
Regulated activity with adults in England and Wales – GOV.UK
Disclosures: Spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, reprimands, relevant non-conviction information, and whether the individual is barred from working with children or adults.
A forum will need to decide what level of DBS check each role in the forum will need. Deciding which DBS checks to carry out | NCVO.
You can use an online checker here Find out which DBS check is right for your employee – GOV.UK.
If you’re unsure what level of check a forum member will need, visit The DBS Regional Outreach service. They can provide the right information for you.
Additional Considerations
- Think about how you are storing the data – see the GDPR page. Keep a list of names and when the checks were done, who by, and make sure sensitive data is not shared. Handling of DBS certificate information – GOV.UK
- If a DBS certificate shows that someone does have a criminal record, there are particular steps you need to take to ensure that you tread them fairly. You must follow the code of practice guidelines DBS code of practice – GOV.UK
- If you are an employer you should follow the guidance: DBS checks: guidance for employers – GOV.UK
- Think about how often you want to review DBS checks – There is no set date for updating DBS check. A good guideline for active forums members would be to have their check updated every 3 years at a minimum.
- Assign responsibility for coordinating the checking process and ensure responsible individuals have training to manage this sensitive information.
- If you are doing more than a basic check, you can register for the update service. This allows your forum to see current DBS checks. DBS checks: guidance for employers – GOV.UK
Updated March 2026
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