Appealing a DBS barring decision to the Upper Tribunal

If you did not respond to a Minded to Bar letter, or your representations did not persuade the DBS not to bar, it writes to you with a letter headed Final Decision. It confirms the DBS considers it appropriate and proportionate to include you on the Adults' Barred List, the Children's Barred List or both, and gives the date your name went on. After that the DBS is finished with the case and will not discuss it further.

To appeal a decision by the DBS to include your name on a barred list, lodging the appeal with the Upper Tribunal is the first step. A judge then has to grant permission before any full appeal hearing can happen, and permission is only granted where the judge considers there is an arguable point that the DBS made an error of fact or of law.

That first assessment is usually made on the papers, without a hearing, although you can ask for it to be dealt with at a hearing instead. If permission is refused at that stage there is a right to a review, which takes the form of a hearing.

If permission is granted, the case is listed for a full hearing where both sides give oral evidence. That can include witnesses and supporting material such as medical reports, training records and character testimonials.

The Upper Tribunal may require hearings to be in person, though it is becoming more common for these to be held virtually across a secure internet network.

An appeal to the Upper Tribunal against a barring decision by the DBS succeeds only if the judge decides the DBS made an error of fact or of law. It is not a fresh look at whether barring feels fair. The judge can order that the barring be removed, or require the DBS to reconsider particular parts of its original risk assessment and say whether that changes the outcome.

Appealing a barring decision by the DBS to the Upper Tribunal is not quick. The three month deadline to lodge is strict, but there are no equivalent fixed timescales for the rest of the process. It is not unusual for the permission stage alone to take several months, and the whole process commonly runs to between twelve and eighteen months.

The full process is not always necessary. When an application for permission arrives, the DBS can reconsider its own decision under what is known as a Paragraph 18A review. Where that happens it can change its mind and remove the person from the barred lists without the appeal running its course.

No. A barring by the DBS is not suspended while you appeal to the Upper Tribunal. The bar stays in force throughout, which means that while the appeal is pending you cannot apply for or carry out any role with children or vulnerable adults that counts as regulated activity. This is one of the hardest parts of the process and it is worth planning for at the outset.

You will speak directly to a solicitor with a track record of successful barring appeals before the Upper Tribunal. I will go through your case, identify the points that are actually arguable as errors of fact or law, and set out the timescales that apply to you. Whether you want to understand how the process works or you want the appeal prepared for you, the first conversation is free.