There was ‘shock’ among councillors as they learned enhanced DBS checks for members are not already enforced.
Coun Dave Molyneux, leader of Wigan Council, told his peers that he “strongly believes” that members should be subjected to background checks before being allowed to take a seat as a councillor. Wigan Town Hall’s full council meeting heard that the leader would ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to request that they introduce mandatory Enhanced DBS checks for all Local Government and regional elected councillors.
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is something that can be used to check the criminal record of an individual.
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“We get involved in schools, community groups, churches, and it is only right that when we ask for volunteers for activities like scouts to get a DBS check,” Coun Molyneux told councillors. “We are corporate parents and we make decisions in committees and in this chamber about how young people are treated.
“When we discussed this a few years back there was objection to making it compulsory but now we are asking to write to the Government to insist that all elected members have a full DBS check. I think it is the right thing to do.”
Responding to the leader’s motion, Coun James Watson of the Independent Network asked who would pay for this and when should the DBS be carried out. He explained that this could cause issue if the DBS check took place once the councillor was elected and then had to be ousted as a result.
Despite this, Coun Watson expressed his support of the motion but admitted his shock that this wasn’t already the case. He said this “should be a prerequisite for all public facing workers”.
Deputy leader Coun Keith Cunliffe chimed in by saying this should be a government led change and they should implement the system and the funding to put in the DBS checks. The council chamber heard Coun Cunliffe’s opinion that MPs should also be subjected to such checks as well.
“I have said many times that our employers are the public and they have a right to know whether they are a fit and proper person,” Coun Cunliffe told the full council. “It is up to the government to come up with a system to finance this.
“I would personally make it that all candidates have a public DBS check so people know who they're voting for. I think every member of parliament should be subject to a DBS check.”
Currently it is not mandatory for elected members to have DBS checks, but many councillors have opted to have one in the interests of clarity and openness. The motion proposed by Coun Molyneux was unanimously passed by the council.
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