Ministers cut the amount of time offenders have to declare convictions

• law change will help ex-offenders turn their back on crime and reduce reoffending
• certain custodial sentences will no longer need to be declared removing a significant barrier to offenders rebuilding their lives
• most serious offenders exempt from changes to keep the public safe

These changes significantly reduce the time people with criminal convictions are legally required to declare them to most potential employers after serving their sentence and when applying for courses, insurance and housing.

Under the previous rules, some offenders needed to disclose their sentences for the rest of their lives, even for crimes committed decades earlier, a significant barrier to them getting a job and rebuilding their lives.

Now, custodial sentences of four years or more years for less serious crimes become ‘spent’ after a seven-year period of rehabilitation, as long as no further offence is committed.

Offenders who have committed serious sexual, violent, or terrorist offences are excluded from these changes to ensure this does not result in an increased risk to the public.

Stricter disclosure rules will continue to apply to jobs that involve working with vulnerable people, through standard and enhanced DBS checks.

The Ministry of Justice has also brought in changes that will mean offenders serving shorter sentences for less serious crimes will need to declare their criminal record for shorter periods, helping turn their lives away from crime.

The reforms came into force on Saturday (28 October 2023) under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. They will immediately impact thousands of people with previously unspent convictions, and many more each year. Nearly 125,000 people sentenced in 2022 alone will benefit from these changes.

The government has also recently announced reforms to give the lowest risk, and first-time offenders, the greatest chance to turn their lives around. By legislating that there should be a presumption against prison sentences of less than 12 months, these offenders will be punished in the community, repaying their debt to society by cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls. This will help these offenders stay in work, connected to their families and better access the drug rehab and mental healthcare needed to properly addresses the root causes of their offending.

• Children’s rehabilitation periods will continue to be half that of adults, recognising that children who offend are often highly vulnerable and are still maturing.
• If an individual reoffends during their rehabilitation period, they will have to disclose both their original and subsequent offences to employers for the duration of whichever rehabilitation period is longer.
• The new rehabilitation periods are as follows:

*excluding serious sexual, violent, or terrorist offences, that continue to never be spent

Previous rehabilitation periods were: