All Swim England clubs need to protect their vulnerable members by carrying out DBS (disclosure and barring services) checks. You will receive an email containing a link which can be used to activate a PIN. As soon as you have activated this and created a password, you will be able to log in and use the system.
According to the Grimsby Telegraph, nearly one-third of primary school leavers are unable to swim and have no basic water safety skills. Swim England has also found that only fifty percent of children between the ages of seven and eleven have reached the necessary standard in swimming, so it is important that more children receive swimming instruction from club members with the necessary DBS clearance.
Application
For the basic DBS check, the verifier who is the club welfare officer, should add each applicant to the system online. The applicant will need to complete the form with all the required details before submitting it for verification. A verification meeting can then be arranged. Applicants attending verification meetings will need to provide certain documents to prove their identity and bring these to the meeting.
Verification
The club’s verification officer can log in to the system and search online for the applicant’s name. Double clicking this will open the application and the verifier can check that the details on the applicant’s original identity documents match their personal details. The original ID documents are checked for authenticity before filling in the online ID validation fields.
Next steps
The application is then submitted so that the applicant’s certificate can be processed. Sometimes further details are required and if this is the case, an email requesting the specific information needed will be sent. This might occur if the applicant has changed their name or address recently.
Club welfare officers are able to obtain a list of members of their club who have an enhanced DBS disclosure certificate from Swim England. This will show the club member’s name as ‘DBS Cleared’. You can contact Swim England by email to discuss any omissions or to make any necessary amendments to the list.