Government Proposes Time Reduction For Disclosure Of Certain Spent Convictions

• Published date: 05 October 2020
• Law Firm: Veale Wasbrough Vizards
• Author: Mr Richard Hewitt

As part of its continuing efforts to review the fairness of the criminal records disclosure regime, the Government is proposing to reduce the time before certain convictions become spent.

Proposed Reform

The proposals are set out in the Government's White Paper, A Smarter Approach to Sentencing (White Paper). The White Paper follows draft legislation on the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) filtering rules set out in July 2020, on which we have previously reported. (Draft Legislation).

Disclosure of Spent Convictions

The White Paper states that a key element in reducing reoffending is access to employment...