Convictions, and ‘Spent’ convictions explained.
Criminal records are held on the police national computer (PNC) for any child or adult. This information is only deleted when a person reaches 100 years old. Criminal records show details of all:
A conviction means you have been sentenced in court.
There are two types of Youth Caution. They are given when someone admits an offence but was not dealt with in court. They are also called ‘out of court resolutions’ or ‘diversionary disposals’. They are usually for minor offences.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, people who have convictions or cautions are considered to have been ‘rehabilitated’ after a certain period of time. The length of time is based on:
Click here to see how long before a conviction is spent.
Yes and No.
Usually when people refer to someone having a criminal record it means they have an unspent convictions or cautions. When applying for most jobs, you only have to tell the employer about unspent convictions or cautions.
However, there are certain jobs that employers are entitled to ask for a standard or enhanced criminal record check. They must know about all convictions, cautions and relevant allegations. This could be for a job, for example, working with children or vulnerable adults. In some circumstances cautions and a first conviction can be filtered out.
There was a change in the law in November 2020. This means that the following will not automatically be disclosed on standard or enhanced criminal record checks (DBS):
If you are not sure, speak to your worker at TYJS or see these websites for more information: