Some convictions for offences committed before the age of 18 could stop being disclosed to employers in England and Wales. According to the BBC, the Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation on changes intended to help people who have been rehabilitated find work. These are proposals, not changes to the law already in force.
The case for reform centres on people whose old convictions continue to hold back their employment prospects, even though they have not committed further offences as adults. The BBC reports that minister Jake Richards argued that people who have turned their lives around should receive support rather than face unnecessary barriers to work.
What could change in criminal record checks
One element of the proposals would end lifelong disclosure in some cases involving custodial sentences for offences committed in childhood. The consultation also covers certain violent and drug offences. It does not, however, amount to a plan to withhold all convictions for offences committed by under-18s from employers.
The BBC also lists proposals to shorten or remove disclosure periods for some fines. Changes would also affect the rules covering cases dealt with outside court and multiple offences committed in childhood.
For job applicants, an important distinction is between basic criminal record checks and standard and enhanced checks carried out through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), the body responsible for checking criminal record information. Standard and enhanced checks are used for roles including work with children. What is disclosed depends on the type of check, so the proposed reform should not be understood as deleting all information about past convictions or ending checks on employees.
Most serious offences excluded from reform
According to the BBC, the most serious offences would be excluded from the proposed changes. These include sexual offences, terrorism offences and the most serious violent offences.
At this stage, the consultation does not change the rules facing job applicants and employers. The proposals described apply only to England and Wales, not the whole of the United Kingdom. Their aim is to limit the lasting effects of some childhood convictions while retaining checks designed to protect public safety.
