BFJ v The Disclosure and Barring Service

Facts

The appellant, anonymised as BFJ, worked as a care assistant. She had begun care work in March 2020, working at a care home until July 2021, later studying physiotherapy and working for another care company and then an events company, before returning to care work in December 2023. On 1 May 2024, while providing a care visit to an elderly couple referred to as the husband and the wife, she made lunch for the couple, cleaned up and left. The couple, who had become suspicious that money had previously gone missing, said they had deliberately placed a £10 note and a £20 note in the wife's purse, checked it immediately after the visit, and found the £20 note gone. They telephoned the care company that day to report it. The appellant denied taking the money at a disciplinary meeting and was dismissed on 21 May 2024. The Disclosure and Barring Service sent a Minded to Bar letter dated 21 February 2025 and, by final decision letter of 25 April 2025, included her in the adults' barred list under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 on the basis that she had stolen the £20 for her own financial gain. She appealed to the Upper Tribunal, permission having been granted on the prospect of her being believed on oral evidence and on an arguable error of law that barring was disproportionate.