Chaperones for children in entertainment and activities

A child performing, rehearsing during the performance period or taking part in an activity must be supervised by a chaperone, at all times, unless they are under the direct care of their parent, a teacher from their school or their home tutor.

Apply for a licence

Chaperones are normally licensed by the local authority in which they live, therefore we can only issue chaperone licences for Derbyshire (excluding Derby City Council) residents.

The role of chaperone is to exercise a duty of care to the child or children in their care which any parent might be reasonably expected to give that child.

To obtain a chaperone licence from us, we require you to:

• attend a training session held at County Hall, Matlock, on a monthly basis
• provide 3 identity documents to us in order for us to proceed with a DBS check
• provide a photo of you
• provide 2 suitable references
• have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
• undertake online safeguarding training provided by us or give evidence that you've already completed suitable safeguarding training elsewhere

Chaperone licences are valid for 3 years from the date of the DBS check.

From the date of application, it will take approximately 6 to 8 weeks before a chaperone licence can be issued. This timescale is based on being able to attend the first training session offered to you, and that we receive your DBS check result quickly.

For more details, email cs.ewscee@derbyshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01629 537859.

Renew your licence

If your chaperone licence is about to expire, you can apply to renew it.

We can only accept renewals if you currently hold a chaperone licence issued by us. If you've moved to Derbyshire and hold a chaperone licence from another authority, then you must apply for a new chaperone licence.

You're not required to attend the training session or provide references.

We'll carry out a new DBS check and we'll contact you about verifying your ID documents for this.

We'll also require a new photo for your chaperone licence and ID badge.

Training session

All our training sessions are held at County Hall, Matlock from 6pm to 8:30pm. We're currently unable to provide training at alternative venues.

The training presentation takes roughly 1.5 hours, but we allow extra time in order for us to process your ID documents at the same time. When you attend the training session, you'll be required to bring 3 pieces of ID in order for us to verify your DBS to proceed with a DBS check. Failure to bring the correct ID will lead to delays in us being able to issue your chaperone licence as we must see your photo ID in person.

The remaining training dates for 2024 are:

• Wednesday 23 October 2024
• Thursday 14 November 2024
• Tuesday 26 November 2024
• Tuesday 10 December 2024

When we receive your application, we will send out a training session invitation for the next available session with spaces. You cannot attend a training session without being invited, due to room limitations.

Photo

We require a photo of you for your licence, which is emailed to you, and your ID badge, which is posted out to your home address. This can be a selfie taken against a blank background.

References

We're unable to accept references from family members.

We're only able to accept written references.

On your application, you must provide contact details for 2 people to provide a suitable reference. We'll then request a reference from them by asking certain questions to check your suitability to work with children.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

You'll receive an email from our DBS team in order to set up your DBS check. We'll then verify your ID in-person at the training session, in order for your DBS check to proceed. Once we've verified your ID, we have no control over when we'll receive a result from the DBS check as there are several different factors affecting how long it can take.

If a trace is found then you'll be invited to an interview to discuss any convictions you have, to see if we deem you are still suitable to work with children or not.

We're currently unable to complete a DBS check through the DBS Update Service. We need to perform our own DBS check.

Safeguarding training

You are required to complete safeguarding training provided by Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (DDSCP), which is an online course that can be taken at any time. The course takes about 1 hour to complete.