DBS Regulation Change from 1 September 2026: A Legal Turning Point in Child Safeguarding for English Table Tennis

At 6 PM on 29 September 2026, London time, Table Tennis England will host a one-hour online webinar. The host is none other than Kyhl Daly, the organisation's Designated Safeguarding Officer. The immediate question: what has happened that forced a national sports federation to urgently convene an online meeting on a Tuesday at the end of September? The answer lies in a piece of legislation called the Crime and Policing Act 2026. This Act took effect on 1 September 2026, and it removes a provision that the British sports world had grown accustomed to for decades: the supervision exemption. Previously, if a coach or volunteer worked with children under the supervision of someone with a DBS certificate, they were not required to hold one themselves. The distinction between supervised and unsupervised roles in the legal definition of Regulated Activity created a legal grey area. From 1 September 2026, that grey area no longer exists. All supervised roles are treated exactly the same as unsupervised ones. For English table tennis, this is not a minor change. Table tennis is a sport with a dense network of clubs and local leagues, where many volunteers work at community centres, school gymnasiums, and weekend junior tournaments. For years, the common model was a lead coach with a DBS certificate supervising a group of assistant coaches or helpers without one. This model saved costs and time for small clubs, but it also raised questions about legal liability when incidents occurred. The 2026 Act closes that loophole with a simple sentence: if you work regularly with children, you need your own DBS certificate. The 29 September webinar is designed for three specific groups. First, Club Welfare Officers, who bear primary responsibility for child safeguarding in each club. Second, members of club or league committees, who manage volunteer lists and assign duties. Third, any volunteer who regularly works with children, whether as a coach, referee, or logistics helper. These three groups form the backbone of the child safeguarding system in English table tennis. If they do not understand the new regulation, the entire system could face legal and ethical risks. It is worth noting that Table Tennis England is not merely announcing a legal change. They are also introducing their internal DBS processes and emphasising the importance of DBS checks in safeguarding children in the sport. This shows a two-layer approach: legal compliance is a necessary condition, but a child safeguarding culture is the sufficient condition. A DBS certificate does not automatically prevent bad behaviour, but it is an important administrative barrier that helps filter out individuals with prior convictions or records related to children. In the context of British sport having gone through several child safeguarding scandals in sports such as football, swimming, and gymnastics, tightening DBS regulations in table tennis is a reasonable preventive move. Table tennis, with its close-contact nature in small spaces and frequent training sessions for children across age groups, has specific risks. A coach can come into contact with dozens of children in a single session, and the coach-student relationship in sport often carries a high element of trust, making internal supervision more complex. For small clubs in rural areas or small towns, this change may create financial and administrative pressure. Each DBS certificate has a cost, and processing can take several weeks. If a club has five volunteers working with children, they may need five separate certificates instead of just one for the lead coach. This requires financial and personnel planning that many amateur clubs are not ready for. However, there is another angle worth considering. Removing the supervision exemption is essentially a step forward in protecting both volunteers and children. Previously, an assistant coach without a DBS certificate could be placed in a legally disadvantageous position if a complaint arose, because they had no evidence of having been background-checked. The new regulation protects them by ensuring everyone in a similar role has the same level of checking. This creates a more level legal playing field. The 29 September webinar will be an opportunity for clubs to ask Kyhl Daly directly about Table Tennis England's DBS process. Questions may revolve around processing times, costs, how to handle special situations such as foreign volunteers or those who already hold certificates from other sports, and how to integrate DBS into existing volunteer recruitment processes. One important point to note is timing. The Act took effect on 1 September 2026, but the webinar takes place on 29 September 2026, nearly a month after the law came into force. This means clubs had to comply with the new regulation for almost a month before an official explanation was available. This may be an information gap that Table Tennis England is trying to fill, but it also raises the question of whether clubs had enough time to adjust their processes. For those working in child safeguarding in sport, this change is a reminder that the law does not stand still. Legal loopholes can exist for years, but when they are closed, they create ripple effects throughout the system. From a provision in the Crime and Policing Act, to a Table Tennis England webinar, to hundreds of table tennis clubs across England, this change will be felt at every level. The bigger question is whether other sports federations will follow Table Tennis England's lead in proactively explaining and training on this legal change. English table tennis has chosen a transparent and educational approach, rather than just sending a dry administrative notice. This could be a model for other sports, especially those with extensive amateur club networks and limited resources. For table tennis clubs in Vietnam, this story may serve as a reference. The child safeguarding system in Vietnamese sport is still in the process of being refined, and monitoring how other countries handle legal changes can provide lessons in policy design and enforcement. The gap between legislation and club practice is a universal challenge, not unique to England. Returning to the 29 September webinar, the core message is clear: from 1 September 2026, there is no longer a supervision grey area in English table tennis. Every volunteer who works regularly with children needs their own DBS certificate. This is not just a legal requirement but an ethical commitment. And for those who have spent their careers protecting children in sport, this is a welcome step forward, even if it requires significant adjustment efforts from clubs.