Government Proposes Time Reduction For Disclosure Of Certain Spent Convictions

• Published date: 05 October 2020
• Subject Matter: Government, Public Sector, Constitutional & Administrative Law
• 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. Having unspent convictions can act as a barrier to employment, hence the Government's desire to strike the right balance between telling prospective employers what they need to know, and supporting the rehabilitation of offenders.

Currently, sentences between one and four years become spent after a further four to seven years respectively and sentences of more than seven years are never spent. The new proposals would mean that adult custodial sentences of up to one year would become spent after 12 months from the end of the sentence (six months where the person was under 18 at the time of the sentence). Adult custodial sentences of between one and four years would become spent after four years from the end of the sentence (two years where the person was under 18 at the time of the sentence). Adult custodial sentences of more than four years would become spent after seven years from the end of the sentence (three-and-a-half...