Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what level of (a) disclosure and barring service, (b) counter-terrorism and (c) criminal records checks are for asylum accommodation staff in the Compass contract who are in contact with service users.

It is the responsibility of the COMPASS providers to undertake the appropriate pre-employment checks and risk assessments in accordance with their legal and contractual obligations (as set out in Section 1.2 of the Statement of Requirements and Schedule 9 of the Terms and Conditions). It is not possible to list a specific set of roles requiring criminal records checks as job roles will vary from one provider to another, however all roles which include contact with service users will be subject to an appropriate level of check depending on the specifics of the role

Criminal record checks are obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS publishes details and guidance for employers on eligibility and levels of clearance required for roles that may be deemed as sensitive as a result of working with children and adults. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-eligibility-guidance