DBS will be removing certain specified old and minor offences from criminal record certificates.

Source Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) published on this site Wednesday May 29th 2013 by Jill Powell

Changes to the legislation were introduced today to allow changes being made to convictions and cautions being filtered.

NB In line with these changes, question e55 has been amended on the DBS application form for a criminal record check. These changes will be outline on the following news item.

Details on what is filtering and the rules in place now are:

What does ‘filtering’ mean?

Filtering is the term that the DBS is using to describe the process which will identify and remove convictions and cautions which should no longer be disclosed on DBS certificates due to changes to legislation.

What will be shown on a DBS certificate?

Standard and Enhanced DBS certificates will include details of convictions and cautions (including youth cautions, reprimands and warnings) recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC).

In addition to information from the PNC, an Enhanced certificate may also include information taken from police records that a chief officer of a police force considers relevant to the application and/or details of whether an individual is included on one or both of our two lists barring people from working with children and/or vulnerable adults.

Some PNC information will now be filtered and will not appear on the certificate. Cautions and convictions filtered out are set out in legislation.

What PNC information will be filtered from inclusion on a certificate?

The rules as to when a conviction or caution will be filtered are set out in legislation. This states that a certificate must include the following:

 Cautions relating to an offence from a list agreed by Parliament– link at end

 Cautions given less than 6 years ago (where individual over 18 at the time of caution)

 Cautions given less than 2 years ago (where individual under 18 at the time of caution)

 Convictions relating to an offence from a prescribed list – link at end

 Where the individual has more than one conviction all convictions will be included on the certificate (no conviction will be filtered)

 Convictions that resulted in a custodial sentence (regardless of whether served)

 Convictions given less than 11 years ago (where individual over 18 at the time of conviction)

 Convictions given less than 5.5 years ago (where individual under 18 at the time of conviction)

The list includes a range of offences which are serious and which relate to sexual offending, violent offending and/or safeguarding. It would never be appropriate to filter offences on this list. A list of offences which will never be filtered has been derived from the legislation.

This is not the complete list as the legislation also extends to cover similar offences committed under the law of Scotland and Northern Ireland or under laws relevant to the armed services.

To access the list click https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-list-of-offences-that-will-never-be-filtered-from-a-criminal-record-check

To see the full details of what has changed and what has not changed click and is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-list-of-offences-that-will-never-be-filtered-from-a-criminal-record-check

See news “Changes made to Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) application for criminal checks” form posted today