Have you been placed on a DBS Barred List?

If you have been placed on the Barred List by the DBS then you will have already been through the Minded to Bar or Intention to Bar process, and the DBS will have made a determination against you. In certain circumstances, this decision can be challenged and potentially reversed.

Appealing the decision:

When you were notified of the original decision to place you on one or both of the lists, the DBS give you 3 months in which to appeal the decision. If you are outside of this time, you cannot appeal.

Assuming you are in time, there are various steps we can take. The first is to explore if you have any appeal grounds and the strength of those grounds. We do this by examining your original DBS documents, your response and the decision letter and providing our advice. If you no longer have the documents, we can get them from the DBS for you provided we still have time.

From there we lodge appeal grounds to obtain permission to have an appeal and then prepare for the full appeal hearing. Visit our DBS appeal solicitors page for further information.

Late Representations:

Sometimes people get placed on a Barred List without their knowledge, often finding out years later. If there has been a procedural problem with you being notified of the DBS’s intention to bar you, then we can often obtain permission to submit late representations, effectively restarting the process again. However, you do remain on the list until we successfully argue that you should be removed.

In order to submit late representations, we would need to assess the history of your case and obtain all the original documentation from the DBS to draft and submit effective representations for you.

Review:

Anyone placed on a Barred List remains on it indefinitely. However, after a minimum period (10 years for those over 18 when placed on the list) we can apply for your case to be reviewed to potentially have you removed from the list(s).

It is also possible to request a review of your case before the 10-year period (or at any time) if specific criteria apply that would mean the DBS should undertake a review. The criteria are very limited.

In order to consider and advise on any potential review under either category, we would need to obtain all your original documentation and discuss potential grounds with you. If we identify positive grounds, then we will apply for a review on your behalf and draft the grounds.

If you have been placed on the Barred List and wish for us to advise you on whether this can be challenged to have that decision overturned, please call our DBS solicitors on 0333 888 4040.