This is a subscription service run by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
FOR DBS APPLICANTS
Anyone can subscribe to the Update Service and add any certificates they receive within 30 days of the DBS certificate being issued. This is a free subscription service if your DBS check is for a voluntary role (The subscription fee for a paid role is £13 annually) however, it must be renewed annually. To renew, subscribers will be sent an email with a link to confirm they still wish to continue the subscription - its a very simple process and should take less than a minute.
Subscribe to the Update Service
FOR PARISHES
You can do a "status check" on someone’s certificate that is subscribed to the Update Service.
If applicants register for this then there will also be no need for renewals as you can check online that there has been no new information issued.
It is best practice to see the original certificate that should be kept by the applicant and the check should be done every three years.
A record should be kept of the status check at parish level.
If they haven’t subscribed to the update service, it will indicate that by saying “no record found”.
* You can use a DBS certificate from another voluntary role as long as they are subscribed to the Update Service and it is the exact same level of check needed.
* Please note that licensed clergy DBS checks include a "home-working" check which means they cannot add that certificate to the Update Service.