Disclosure and barring reform

In July, the government laid out amendments to the filtering rules regarding automatic disclosure of youth cautions, reprimands, warnings and multiple convictions through DBS checks.

The aim of the changes is to ensure the ‘right balance’ between rehabilitating offenders and protecting the public.

The amendment comes after the Supreme Court directed the government to make the change in January 2019. The court found in favour of three individuals, who claimed that their lives had been blighted by past minor convictions. The court said the blanket rules around DBS checks ‘disproportionately’ affected those who had committed offences as a youth or had multiple convictions and that it was a breach of human rights.

This change is expected to come into effect by the end of 2020.

The full details are available here.