Vetting Process
The BookingsGuru Due Diligence Vetting Process Explained
Thank you for choosing to book through us. You may have been asked to provide us with documentation. We require supporting documents from all our third-party activity leads to carry out our due diligence vetting checks. The process provides our venues with the reassurance that their premises are being used safely and appropriately by organised activity providers and community groups and forms part of our contractual obligations to our venues.
This page has been produced to explain:
Which documents are required?
Why do we require the documents?
How often will we need an updated version?
What we might ask you for, and why
You may be asked to provide some or all of these documents, depending on your activity type and who is attending your booking (adults, juniors or both).
Coaching/Teaching Certificates
Expires – No expiry date.
These certificates are required if any coaching or teaching is taking place on the premises.
We ask for these to ensure that those providing teaching or coaching services at our venues are competent.
Certificate of Public Liability Insurance
Expires – 1 year from date of issue.
Also known as PLI, this is required if an event or session has any members of the public attending. Although each venue has its own Public Liability Insurance (PLI), this only covers school activities within school hours. Therefore, it is a requirement that third-party users take out their own insurance to cover any possible accident, injury or damage caused to property.
To confirm coverage, we will need a valid Certificate of Insurance for Public Liability (not to be confused with Employers Liability Insurance!). This type of insurance certificate is usually issued annually and shows the dates of the cover. Once it has expired, we’ll require a new one.
Portable Appliance Testing Certificate
Expires – 1 year from date of issue.
Also known as a PAT certificate, these are required for any electrical equipment that is plugged into the premises' power sockets (e.g., speakers, warming dishes, etc.).
The test ensures that the equipment is safe to use and prevents electrical accidents. UK legislation states that electrical devices must be maintained in a safe condition and that venues have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of their employees and the public.
As PAT certificates expire after a year, we will require these on an annual basis.
If the equipment is less than a year old, a PAT test is not required. Instead, we can accept a receipt showing the purchase date until the PAT certificate is required.
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Procedure
Expires – Annual review required.
These two documents are required if any children and/or disabled/vulnerable adults will be in attendance during your booking.
The Department of Education insists that appropriate safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures are in place for any groups using school facilities/premises to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place to keep children and/or disabled/vulnerable adults safe.
This is why we ask every organisation that has children in attendance (whether they are accompanied or not) to provide their policy and procedure, which must set out their commitment to protecting children and disabled/vulnerable adults from harm.
Here are some useful links to the NSPCC website for further information on auditing your current safeguarding and child protection arrangements, and creating safeguarding new policies and procedures:
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-self-assessment-tool
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/writing-a-safeguardingpolicy-statement
Disclosure and Barring Service
DBS Certificates Expires – 3 years from date of issue.
We will need to see copies of valid DBS certificates for all supervising staff attending the site if there are children and/or disabled/vulnerable adults within your group.
It is our duty to carry out these due diligence checks as part of our own Child Protection Policy and the contract with our venues.
The certificate must be less than three years old.
We will require a new DBS certificate before the third anniversary of the certificate issue date.
If a DBS has a conviction or caution relating to children, theft, drugs, or violence, we are obliged to report this to the venue, which will make the final decision on whether that person is permitted to attend the premises.
For further information on how we handle these sensitive documents, please ask us for our Data Sharing Policy.
DBS Update Service
Expires – Ongoing.
As above, it is an alternative and more secure option for us to carry out checks.
If subscribed to the DBS update service, we can check a DBS without seeing the certificate. If the subscription is up to date, there is no requirement to apply for a new certificate.
To complete the check, we require the following information:
Enhanced certificate – we will need the surname of the person we are checking, their date of birth and the certificate number.
Basic certificate – we will need the one-time share code, provided by the certificate holder and the last 6 digits of the certificate number. Please be aware codes are only valid for 21 days and can only be used once.
To find out more about the DBS update services, use the link below:
First Aid Certificate
Expires – 3 years from the date of issue.
A valid First Aid certificate is required for any bookings involving sports. We require at least one person attending any sports booking to have a valid first aid certificate. This will ensure that any injuries that occur during a booking can be properly attended to.
Site staff can provide first aid equipment and contact emergency services, but they cannot administer first aid to the injured party.
We ask for a certificate for at least one coach or team member if no coaching/teaching is taking place. For junior groups, the elected first aider does not necessarily need to have a DBS Certificate, but it is preferred.
First Aid certificates are valid for three years from the date of issue. Refresher training can be taken to extend the certificate. In this case, we will require copies of both certificates.
FA Affiliation Status
Expires – 1 season from the date of issue.
If the booking is for a football club who are affiliated with the FA, we can easily check all the documents we need by seeing proof of affiliation on the Whole Game System at the start of each season.
We will need to see a screenshot of the Whole Game System showing the club’s name, affiliation number, and the date of the current season. Unfortunately, we cannot accept the affiliation number on its own since we cannot check this.
We will also require a list of the coaches who will be in attendance and a screenshot of the coaches’ qualification spreadsheet, which can also be found on the Whole Game System.
To find out more about applying for club affiliation with your county FA and how to access the Whole Game System, follow the links below:
https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/who-we-are/county-fas
https://www.thefa.com/get-involved/more/whole-game/club-affiliation
Other National Governing Bodies of Sports who provide affiliation status
Expires – 1 season from the date of issue.
As a business, we are beginning to see other Governing Bodies of Sport providing a similar service to the FA Whole Game System. We have limited knowledge about these programmes, but we are willing to work with affiliated clubs and teams to find out more and make the vetting process simpler for everyone involved.
Lifeguard Certification
Expires – 2 years from the date of issue).
A valid Lifeguard Certificate is required for any bookings involving pool use. To ensure the safety of all pool users, at least one person attending any pool booking must have a valid, nationally recognised lifeguard certificate. Site staff can provide first aid equipment and contact emergency services, but they are unable to administer first aid.
Party/Event Bookings
For parties and events, we will require the following documents from any third-party suppliers used during the booking.
Entertainment and equipment providers (Bouncy Castles, Magicians, Puppeteers, Costume Characters, DJs):
PLI Certificate
PAT Certificates
DBS Certificate (if any children are left in their sole care)
Catering providers:
PLI Certificate
PAT Certificates
Food Hygiene Certificate, level 2 or higher
Decoration providers:
PLI Certificate
PAT Certificates
Questions?
If you don’t have the documents that we need, you don’t want to share your documents or you have any other questions about our due diligence vetting process, please contact us.