Letters... FAIRER SYSTEM NEEDED TO HELP REHABILITATE PEOPLE WITH CONVICTIONS

THE DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Filtering law was recently changed (in November last year), but only limited changes were made by prime minister Boris Johnson’s administration.

While this has assisted some people, who no longer have to disclose their convictions for standard and enhanced DBS checks, I believe that the filtering law changes do not go far enough.

Currently, someone who has been convicted of indecent assault at a court in 1992 will have to disclose their conviction for certain roles until they are 100 years old. It’s the same for a 19-year-old who pushes someone and receives a caution for Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (AOABH). And a person who once received a conviction for prostitution as a result of being sexually exploited will have to reveal their conviction until they are 100 years old for certain roles.

I am calling for the government to reform the disclosure of criminal records, so minor and very old crimes do not appear on standard and enhanced criminal records checks for ever, so that those who have turned their lives around are not forced to reveal their convictions so long after they have served their sentence and rehabilitated.

I am calling on the

Home Office and the Ministry of Justice to launch a major review of the legislation on the disclosure of criminal records. Given the importance of understanding the experiences of those with criminal records (and other points of view), I believe the review should be one that is led by the Cabinet Office.

I am asking the home secretary and the lord chancellor to help everyone move on with their lives and fulfil their potential by launching a full review of the criminal records disclosure policy in this country as, at the moment, it does not go far enough. I believe more changes are required so this country has a fair and proportionate system in the way that it deals with people who have been convicted..