Editorial and corrections policy

People use these pages before paying for a check, or before telling a volunteer or a new recruit which check to request. A fee from last year or a level the role cannot get costs them money and weeks, so every figure points back to the official text it came from.

Who is responsible

Radif Partners, reachable at contact@disclosurecost.co.uk.

The sources we use

• the fee regulations on legislation.gov.uk (SI 2026/985 and, for earlier fees, SI 2024/1111);
• GOV.UK pages on DBS checks, the Update Service, filtering and the self-employed route, and the nine DBS eligibility documents;
• DBS dataset 1 for turnaround and Update Service figures, and the monthly DBS police performance report;
• the fee and performance pages of Disclosure Scotland, mygov.scot and nidirect (AccessNI);
• HMRC VAT guidance for the treatment of admin fees.

Sources we refuse

Umbrella bodies, screening companies and other check sites never provide a fee or a rule here, however well they rank. A figure that no official page publishes, such as a wait per police force in days, is not shown.

Indicative levels

The level shown for a role is the highest one the DBS guidance allows for it. It is worded as indicative: a role can always ask for a lower level, and the recruiting organisation decides. We do not give legal advice.

Review cycle

Fees are re-read whenever DBS, Disclosure Scotland or AccessNI announce a change, and at least every quarter when DBS publishes its dataset. A script compares the official amounts with the data file and stops the build when they differ.

Corrections

1. We open the official page again.
2. We correct the data file and add a test for the case.
3. The pages rebuild and show the new date.

Independence

No umbrella body, employer or screening company pays for or reviews what is published here, and the site carries no affiliate link. Version: 2026-10-24.