Safer Recruitment

Safer recruitment helps ensure that people who work with children, young people, and vulnerable adults are suitable, supported, and well prepared for their roles.

The Church is committed to safer recruitment practices for all roles involving contact with children, young people, and vulnerable adults. This includes clear and proportionate appointment processes, appropriate checks, and ongoing support for those who serve. These arrangements are set out in The Church of England’s Safer Recruitment & People Management Guidance.

In addition, there is a local Recruitment Policy for Parish Roles, which is designed to support parishes when appointing people to roles that may not be covered by national guidance.

This page brings together information and links to help parishes recruit safely and confidently. If you are unsure what is required for a particular role, or need advice at any stage, the Safeguarding Team is happy to help.

Supporting safer recruitment in your parish

DBS Eligibility

Who needs a DBS check?
Guidance to help determine DBS eligibility for different roles.
How to Use the DBS Update Service
Guidance for situations where an individual has subscribed to the DBS Update Service and wishes to use an existing certificate.

Parish Identity Verifier

Parish Identity Verifiers play an important role in safer recruitment, particularly through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) process.

To help Parish Identity Verifiers carry out this role confidently and securely, induction resources, training information, and registration are provided and can be accessed via the links below.

Complete the registration form
This form registers you to use the online DBS application system. Once completed, please email it to safeguardingsupport@cofebirmingham.com
Read the Parish Identity Verifier Induction - This guidance explains the role and provides practical advice on completing identity checks correctly.
Complete the online Safer Recruitment & People Management training This training supports understanding of safer recruitment principles and expectations.

Safeguarding Hub

The Safeguarding Hub is an add on to the Safeguarding Dashboard. It is a great tool that helps parishes manage safer recruitment and safeguarding processes more easily and consistently.

The Hub can help parishes to:

keep track of DBS checks and safeguarding training, including automated reminders
create role descriptions and person specifications, including DBS eligibility guidance and safer recruitment templates
track the safer recruitment of new volunteers and employees

Further information is available via the Safeguarding Hub brochure.
To begin using the Safeguarding Hub, please email safeguardingsupport@cofebirmingham.com

FAQS and Forms

The following documents are commonly used as part of safer recruitment and DBS processes and are provided to support parishes:

Confidential Self Declaration Form
This form must be completed every time a new or renewal DBS check is applied for.
Parish Privacy Notice
This should be used alongside the Confidential Self-Declaration Form.