Disclosure FAQ's

What you need to do for you disclosure check depends on where you Scout. Ideally we will require at least one piece of photo ID. For more information on the process and ID required please see the relevant country below for more information.

England and Wales

British Scouting Overseas

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Your volunteer line manager will be able to direct you to the appropriate ID checker, as this varies depending on your role. The ID checker should not be a family member.

Scotland’s disclosure process is a paper form. However, we do not provide this as an option for England, Northern Ireland and Wales’s applicants. This is only possible in exceptional circumstances where you have a lack of photo ID or if you’re an applicable BSO applicant please see how to apply for a Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check for suitability. Please speak with your ID checker if this is the case and they will contact the disclosure team.

There are a number of options to ensure that volunteers who are transgender can complete the disclosure process without needing to disclose their gender identity within Scouting. Read the information on Sensitive Disclosures process  and the process will vary depending on where you Scout.

If you choose not to use the Sensitive Disclosure process and are happy for the name or gender you were assigned with at birth to be disclosed on a completed Disclosure, then you can complete the Disclosure Application Form as instructed above.

Where you Scout will determine the agency that process your disclosure check and the ID requirements. The ID checker can go through the different combinations of ID required as there are different routes you can take with your application.

If you have never held the required identity documents for a disclosure check to be carried out, your application cannot proceed any further online. Please speak with your ID checker about the ID that you hold. They will contact the appropriate commissioner who will contact disclosures@scouts.org.uk for further advice.

The safety of our young people and volunteers is paramount, and disclosure checks are part of how we ensure a safe environment.  

For new volunteers waiting for their disclosure check, or an existing volunteer (whose disclosure has expired and has submitted a repeat application), you can volunteer only when supervised (being within hearing and sight distance) by a volunteer with a valid disclosure check. However, you will not be able to stay overnight until your new disclosure check is in place and the National Vetting Process is completed. See 3.26 in POR for more detail.

For people volunteering not on a regular basis and very occasionally, for example a parent helping out every few months by making refreshment - they can only ever volunteer when supervised (being within hearing and sight distance) by a volunteer with a valid disclosure check and cannot volunteer to stay at an overnight event.

We’re an inclusive organisation and welcome members from all walks of life. A disclosure will show past convictions, cautions, offences, reprimands and final warnings. It may also show information that statutory agencies wish to make the Scouts aware of.  The type of disclosure will inform whether you can proceed as a volunteer at The Scouts and the team (National Headquarters or Commissioner and Appointment Advisory Committee) that will make a decision on your appointment.

What is considered acceptable can be found in the Safeguarding, Vetting and Decision Guidance section within POR. This shows how we categorise disclosures and the appropriate decisions following notification of a disclosure. These decisions range from:

• Exclusion - no appeal
• Further consideration by National Headquarters
• Disclosure Information passed to relevant commissioner and Appointment Advisory Committee with technical advice for consideration
• Clear - fit to Scout

Who gets to see your disclosure will depend on whether there is information within your disclosure check, the type of disclosure and where you Scout. There are different stages after a disclosure check is complete.

In the first instance National Headquarters are notified if your disclosure check is clear or if there is information on it.

Depending on where you Scout they will then either ask to see an original copy of the disclosure certificate or automatically receive a certificate from the appropriate Disclosure check agency. The procedure for sharing your disclosure certificate can be found in Procedure. Please note in England, Wales and Northern Ireland if you decide to not share the certificate you will no longer be able to proceed with your volunteering appointment. 

Once the disclosure certificate is shared the National Headquarters will use the Safeguarding, Vetting and Decision Guidance to make a decision on how to proceed and which need to be involved in making that decision. To learn more about who locally is involved in the process see Local Procedure Otherwise it will be National Headquarters that will act as your main contact.

All of the information provided by the disclosure authorities, applicants and references are held in line with the Codes of Practice of the disclosure authorities and the Data Protection legislation.

If you are still concerned about the content of your certificate please contact the National vetting team for further information vetting.mailbox@scouts.org.uk

Unfortunately we do not currently subscribe to the update service. We require enhanced with barring checks for volunteers, as part of creating a safe environment for our young people. As not all update subscriptions provide this option, the amount of suitable checks that could take place through this service at this time does not warrant an organisation subscription.

Yes. Asylum seekers and refugees can get a disclosure, however providing the right documents and address history might be challenging.

Understand how you can support asylum seekers and refugees to volunteer at Scouts. 

Sometimes the box to enter the details opens up behind the current screen. Try minimising the current screen and the box should appear. 

Only the day of the birth or marriage certificate needs to be entered. For example, if the date is 01.05.1990, only 01 needs to be entered. 

The last four characters of your Driving Licence should be the last 2 letters before the gap at the end and the two numbers after the gap. Try using both lower and upper case letters as it needs to match exactly what has been entered by the ID checker.

If you still can’t proceed, it may be that the ID checker has entered the details incorrectly. If this is the case, please contact them as they will need to cancel and re-start the application.

Search for the applicant in Atlantic Data by membership number only (without any leading zeros). Their first name should be in blue. Click on this and then on the tab 'Available Actions'. There is an option to ‘Cancel Application. Log back into Compass. On the ‘Disclosures’ tab at the bottom left-hand side of the screen, there will be a button that says ‘Request Disclosure’.

Check that the email address is entered correctly, and that emails are not going to spam/junk folders. 

Less is more in Atlantic Data! Try searching using just the applicant’s membership number (without any leading zeros).

Search for the applicant in Atlantic Data by membership number only (without any leading zeros). Their first name should be in blue. Click on this and then on the tab 'Available Actions'. You should then see an option to re-send the invite.

Changes to titles, names and dates of birth can be made by getting in touch with the Support Centre. Changes to postal addresses, postcodes and email addresses can be made locally in Compass by members with the appropriate access.

Once any changes have been made, the application will need to be cancelled in Atlantic Data and a new application requested in Compass. This will carry over a new application to Atlantic Data with the updated details.

If changes to an applicant's details have been made in Compass after a disclosure has been requested, the application will need to be cancelled in Atlantic Data and a new application requested in Compass. This will carry over a new application to Atlantic Data with the updated details.

If you search for the applicant in Atlantic Data the day after you’ve added them to Compass, you should be able to find them. Please note that you won’t be able to see the Compass record until their 18^th birthday.

When first selecting that the birth certificate is being used as an ID document, Atlantic Data will ask if it was issued within or after 12 months of the applicant’s birth. This prompts the next questions that are asked. If the wrong answer was given, click on ‘Choose alternative documents’ which will allow you to re-select the documents.

When first selecting that the birth certificate is being used as an ID document, Atlantic Data will ask if it was issued within or after 12 months of the applicant’s birth. This prompts the next questions that are asked. If the wrong answer was given, click on ‘Choose alternative documents’ which will allow you to re-select the documents.

You have to log into Atlantic Data successfully on the first try to proceed. Members that are not transferred straight away will be picked up in an overnight update that we run so if you search for them in Atlantic Data the following day, you should be able to find them.

There are known issues with this ID document and Atlantic Data doesn’t always accept this as a form of ID. Please ask the member to provide another ID document.

The application will need to be cancelled in Atlantic Data and the nationality amended in Compass. A new application will then need to be requested from Compass.