Removal of the supervision exemption from regulated activity with children
From 1 September 2026, the law about regulated activity with children is changing. The current rule about the supervision of paid staff and volunteers carrying out specific activities with children will be removed from the legal definition.
Regulated activity occurs when an individual teaches, trains, instructs, cares for or supervises children often enough.
Currently, individuals who work with children while being supervised are not eligible for enhanced with children’s barred list checks issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), despite the fact that those who carry out the same activity while unsupervised, can access this level of check.
The government is removing the supervision exemption from the definition of regulated activity, so that anyone working with children on a frequent basis, whether supervised or not, is treated as being in regulated activity. This will help to strengthen the protection and safeguarding of children.
The change in legislation, active from 1 September 2026, will do the following:
- Enable employers to check whether an individual working in these kinds of roles is on the children’s barred list.
- Make it an offence for a barred person to work in these roles or for an employer to engage them in such roles.
- Require employers to refer individuals dismissed for causing harm or for posing a risk of harm to children, to the DBS.
Employers should identify whether individuals in affected roles will require the higher level of DBS check when the legislation comes into force. Employers should also update recruitment, volunteering and safeguarding steps where applicable and in line with the guidance.
Detailed guidance, including the updated definition of regulated activity with children, is on the GOV.UK website.
