When the UK government announced plans to house Ukrainian refugees, many British citizens were delighted. There had been a feeling that this country was not doing enough to offer practical help for innocent civilian families caught up in bombings and other attacks in their home towns, cities and villages, through no fault of their own. As a rather delayed response, the government launched its “Homes for Ukraine” scheme on Friday 18th March 2022, about a month after the conflict began. Under the scheme, British householders apply to take in Ukrainian individuals or families, giving them a very welcome roof over their heads.
Background Checks
Unfortunately in the 21st century, such a scheme was always open to abuse. Applicants to become hosts sometimes have their own agenda, which may be financial profit or other form/s of exploitation. By definition, Ukrainian refugees are vulnerable people. In order to address this potential problem, host applicants are subject to background criminal records checks, in the form of a DBS Certificate. Just as when applying for a job or voluntary post which requires regular contact with vulnerable groups, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) can carry out a check to see if applicants are suitable, based on their past history.
Because of the way Homes for Ukraine works, however, the usually reliable DBS system does not fit in with the process. Usually, a person taking up a job would have to provide the appropriate type of DBS clearance before starting work; especially if they work with vulnerable groups. Under Homes for Ukraine, incoming residents are matched with hosts before those hosts are checked by DBS. Visas are obtained, and guests arrive in the UK ready to take up their new residence. If the DBS check then comes back with an unsuitable result, this leaves the guests in a very difficult position.
Targeted Guests
As well as this issue of checks taking place “in parallel” as guests arrive in the country, further issues arise due to the demographics of those guests. As Ukrainian males deemed to be of fighting age are required to stay in their country and do just that, the vast majority of refugees are women and children. Sadly, this makes them targets for certain types of predator in the UK. Not only that, but many of the “matches” between host and guest have been made via social media, much like a dating app; this has already led to reported cases of supposed hosts only being willing to “accept” single women within certain age limits.
Of course, there is nothing to say that, just because a potential host prefers this type of guest, their DBS check would mitigate against them. It could be that there is no criminal record on the Police National Computer (PNC) at all for such individuals. For concerned charities and refugee groups, however, the point is that background checks should be carried out before anyone is allowed to be a host. As it happens, there are documented cases of local authorities having to look for alternative hosts for guests, in some cases after those hosts’ DBS checks came back showing convictions which made them unsuitable.
Responsible Organisations
The type of DBS checks needed to find out whether a person would be a suitable host are Enhanced checks; these are also known as the Enhanced CRB Check. When applying for a job or voluntary position, such a check would be requested by the employer / voluntary body, or by a third party known as a Responsible Organisation (RO), often referred to as an Umbrella Body. In the case of employment, the applying organisation has to lay out why it is they are requesting such a check, in order to satisfy the condition of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA). This makes it illegal for employers or third parties to ask for detailed background checks if the post in question does not entail regular contact with a proscribed group; i.e. children and vulnerable adults.
In the case of hosts for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the ROs in question are local authorities at county level. It is they who are ultimately responsible for the welfare of incoming guests, and they who will have to find alternative accommodation if hosts are found to be unsuitable. Unfortunately, it is the Home Office that issues visas, regardless of what stage the DBS checking procedure for potential hosts has reached.
If someone has been granted a visa, they have a right to stay in the UK for the length of time specified on that visa; if their expected host then turns out to be unsuitable, that is not the visa holder’s fault. Unfortunately, visas are only granted after hosts have been found; hosts whose criminal records have not at that point been checked.
Enhanced Checks
The reason hosts will need the Enhanced level of check is because of what these checks disclose. Whereas Basic checks only show current (or “unspent”) convictions, Standard and Enhanced checks disclose spent convictions, police cautions, final warnings and reprimands. There are exceptions to this latter, but these can be overcome at the Enhanced checking level. There are some offences which even an Enhanced check would not disclose as a matter of course; specifically, some offences against children, or crimes of a particular type. Again, usually, an RO would have to justify their reasons for wanting to see any such past convictions.
In the case of people applying to host Ukrainian families, the most useful level of checking will be Enhanced, with sight of the children’s and adults’ barred lists. These are literally lists of names of people who have committed particular crimes, against specified types of person, and who are therefore banned from working in regular contact with either or both such groups. Being under the same roof as such an individual would certainly qualify as regular contact; indeed, it would make the guests uniquely vulnerable. Although such instances are rare, there have been one or two cases where families are deemed unsafe with their chosen hosts.
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