The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) is the national agency for safeguarding and is the Registered / Umbrella Body of the DBS for the Catholic Church of England & Wales. This document forms part of the national Safer Recruitment policy and has been endorsed by the Bishops Conference and the Conference of Religious.
1. Why does the Catholic Church ask for this form to be completed?
The Catholic Church uses the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to apply for Disclosures to ensure that those working with vulnerable groups within their parish activities and Religious Orders have been recruited on a fully informed basis.
The Catholic Church is required, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, to provide you, as the applicant, with the opportunity to voluntarily disclose any convictions, cautions, warnings or bind-overs that are relevant to the role for which you are applying.
There is also an expectation that the Catholic Church check an applicant's previous employment and relevant experience as part of the broader recruitment process.
2. Who will have access to the completed document and its contents?
Once you have completed, signed and dated the attached document please download this form and retain it for your future reference and information.
This completed form will only be reviewed by those with the entitlement to do to assess relevancy of the contents. For example, your Safeguarding Office or your Employer.
3. What happens if something is declared?
Any information you supply on the document will not necessarily bar you from undertaking the role for which you are applying/currently working in.
Should further information be warranted in light of your disclosure of information, your prior consent will be sought BEFORE further information or enquiries are made.
The relevant safeguarding contact or employer will contact you to discuss any information you disclose and obtain any further details required to help assess the relevancy of the information to the role for which you are applying.
4. How will decisions be made in light of information disclosed?
Decisions will be made based on full examination of the information disclosed, following further discussion with you regarding the details and circumstances and with possible referral to relevant parties (with your prior consent). You will be kept informed of the decision process and outcome.
5. Who will be involved in the decision making process?
Your relevant safeguarding contact or employer will make the decision in consultation, if necessary, with the appropriate Safeguarding Commission.
6. Where will this document be held; by whom and for how long?
This document will be retained by the authorised countersignatory or employer in accordance with the Safe Storage and Retention Policy requirements.
The document will be retained for 75 years* (or until a new Disclosure is required at which time a new Safeguarding Self Declaration is necessary):
a. within lockable, non-portable cabinets (with restricted access to keys by authorised and relevant
personnel only), or
b. stored electronically on password protected, secure, safeguarding specific drives accessible only by authorised personnel (headmaster, secretary).
*This period was prescribed by The National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) in 2009.
