Government Proposes Changes to Criminal Record Disclosure for Young People in England and Wales

According to BBC UK, government proposals intend to allow some job applicants in England and Wales to no longer be required to disclose criminal convictions obtained when they were children, a move designed to enhance the employment opportunities for young people who have reformed. These proposed alterations would mean that criminal records for individuals who were detained before the age of 18 would cease to appear indefinitely during checks conducted by employers.

The Ministry of Justice has also initiated a consultation regarding the relaxation of disclosure mandates for specific violent and drug-related offenses committed by children. The government asserts that young people who have not continued criminal activity as adults face difficulties securing employment due to their prior conduct.

Many employers require applicants to self-declare any criminal history, and for more sensitive roles, such as those involving children or police work, an employer can request information from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The duration for which a criminal record must be disclosed or appears in these checks varies based on the offense's severity, the sentence received, and the time elapsed since the crime, a concept sometimes referred to as whether a conviction is 'spent'.

For instance, a young person who received a fine for an offense while under 18 would have that information visible in checks for five and a half years, whereas a custodial sentence would result in disclosure for the remainder of their life. The government's objective is to decrease the number of young people subject to these disclosure rules if the applicant has not continued to offend as an adult.

Five specific offenses are slated for removal from the list of crimes that will appear in background checks for life if committed by an adult. These offenses are affray, violent disorder, supplying a controlled drug to a child, robbery, and assaults occasioning actual bodily harm. Ministry of Justice data indicates that between March 2022 and March 2026, approximately 8,500 individuals under 18 were convicted of these offenses. The government suggests that such crimes are frequently linked to peer pressure, exploitation, and 'adolescent impulsivity' in developing individuals, rather than a general inclination toward crime and violence.

Under the proposed new regulations, these five offenses would no longer appear in checks after five and a half years. Furthermore, lifelong disclosure would be removed for offenses resulting in a detention period of less than two years—the maximum a youth court can impose—and would be replaced by a new disclosure period of 11 years. The rules would remain unchanged for cases where a child received a sentence exceeding two years, which would only occur if the crime's severity necessitated handling by an adult crown court.

The reforms would exempt the most serious offenses, including sexual offenses, terrorism-related crimes, and severe violence, from these changes. Other proposed modifications include eliminating or shortening the disclosure period for offenses resulting in a fine, many of which relate to driving, and ending the disclosure of offenses resolved through out-of-court settlements, which have mainly been used for knife possession and assault.

Justice Minister Jake Richards stated that many young people who commit offenses do not proceed to lead lives of crime, and that when they take responsibility and work to improve their lives, society should acknowledge that progress instead of creating unnecessary obstacles. These proposals are being announced as the government prepares to release a report authored by former Labour minister Alan Milburn concerning the issue of young people who are neither in work nor education, following Milburn's May warning about a potential 'lost generation' where nearly one in eight young people are not working or studying. Richards noted that employment barriers can be 'particularly difficult to overcome' for those who committed crimes as children.