Customers contacting the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) between Monday 15 to Saturday 20 August by telephone, email or webchat may face some disruption and delays. This is due to industrial action by staff working for Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS). HGS is contracted to provide DBS customer contact centre services as well as a certain number of DBS administrative functions.

During the industrial action, HGS is putting additional resources in place to try and minimise the inconvenience to customers as much as possible.

The industrial action is not expected to have any significant impact on turnaround times for DBS checks or barring decisions. Our core services will not be affected and employers and customers should continue to access them as normal.

Service operating hours 15 to 20 August

During the industrial action, the times of the customer contact centre will be reduced to:

• Monday 15 August to Friday 19 August – 9am to 5pm
• Saturday 20 August – closed

Webchat services will still be available to customers in normal operating hours (Monday to Friday, from 10am to 4pm). Webchat becomes available to customers when they access online services such as applying for a DBS check, making a barring referral or signing in to the Update Service.

At around 00:06 hrs on Monday 11 July 2022, two track workers were almost struck by a freight train travelling at 61 mph (98 km/h) just south of Penkridge station, Staffordshire. The track workers moved clear of the path of the train less than one second before it reached their position. Another train was passing the track workers on an adjacent line as the freight train approached them.

At the time of the incident, the track workers involved were investigating an ongoing fault with the overhead line equipment which was preventing trains with electric traction from using this section of line, causing significant levels of disruption to train services in the area.

Our investigation will seek to identify the sequence of events which led to the incident and will include consideration of:

• the actions of those involved

• the arrangements to protect the track workers from moving trains

• the roles, responsibilities and working patterns of relevant staff

• how the competence of staff was managed

• any relevant underlying factors.

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website.

You can subscribe to automated emails notifying you when we publish our reports.

The Prime Minister spoke to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, UAE, today.

The leaders thanked one another for their support and friendship. They agreed that great strides have been made in the UK-UAE relationship in recent years.

The Prime Minister praised the Crown Prince’s success in bringing prosperity to both the UAE and the Gulf more generally. The Crown Prince paid tribute to the role the Prime Minister has played in driving trade and investment between our countries.

The Prime Minister said UK-UAE cooperation on global priorities including Ukraine, regional stability and climate change is hugely important for the world. He expressed his confidence that this cooperation will continue in the years ahead.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack visited the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last week [Thursday 4 August], where he enjoyed watching Team Scotland in action and seeing the event build on the legacy of Glasgow 2014.

His day at the games involved cheering on Team Scotland in the boxing and badminton tournaments, before meeting opening ceremony flag bearer and badminton star Kirsty Gilmour.

He then paid a visit to Scotland House, the home away from home for Team Scotland’s athletes during the games, where he enjoyed hearing more about legacy projects and community outreach initiatives the Commonwealth Games encourage.

As the games drew to a close on Monday [8 August], Team Scotland had tallied up 51 medals, including 13 golds, making it their most successful games ever outside Scotland.

Speaking before the closing ceremony, the Scottish Secretary said:

From Eilish McColgan following in her mother’s footsteps, to George Miller and Rosemary Lenton becoming our oldest ever gold medallists, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games have kept us thrilled and inspired in equal measure.

I was lucky enough to see some of the action live last week, where cheering on Team Scotland was a highlight of my summer. With a total of 51 medals, including 13 golds, the games have undoubtedly been a roaring success for the team. 

My warmest congratulations go to all the athletes who took part, and to Birmingham for putting on such a fantastic show.