Criminal Record Checks System Still Broken

Legal rights campaign groups have described as a “disgrace” the government’s delay in reforming the criminal record checks system. People with minor convictions and cautions must still disclose their criminal records to some prospective employers, a year after the Home Office lost a legal challenge over the system. In the supreme court ruling on 30 January 2019, Lord Sumption said the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) rules were disproportionate because they required disclosure for multiple offences, even if they were minor, and failed to distinguish between warnings or reprimands given to juveniles and convictions.

The government has yet to make alterations to the system. Sam Grant, the policy and campaigns manager at Liberty, said: “It is a disgrace that after years of failed wrangling in the courts, the government continues to drag its feet and refuses to fix a clearly broken system. “A blunt bureaucratic system continues to subject people to unfair treatment for mistakes they made long ago. If you make a few mistakes, you should be able to move on without it tarnishing you for the rest of your life.” Three of four appeals by the Home Office were rejected over the issue of whether people found guilty of lesser offences or given cautions needed to disclose them when seeking employment involving contact with children or vulnerable adults.