Criminal records (England and Wales)

How can an individual apply to have a criminal record on the Police National Computer deleted?

The Police National Computer (PNC) records details of convictions and cautions. Chief officers “own” the data that their force has entered onto the PNC. They can exercise their discretion, in exceptional circumstances, to delete non-court disposals (such as cautions) which are owned by them and held on the PNC, as well as any non-conviction outcome. They cannot delete court convictions.

Individuals can apply for the removal of a PNC record through the ‘Record Deletion Process’ administered by the ACRO Criminal Records Office, a national police unit. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has issued guidance on the Record Deletion Process. It says that there is no set criterion for the deletion of records and that it is for chief officers to exercise professional judgement based on the information available.

Applicants for deletion of a PNC record must base their application on the grounds set out in NPCC guidance. The guidance gives examples (at annex B) of circumstances in which deletion should be considered by a chief officer. These include:

• No Crime: Where it is established that a recordable crime has not been committed. For example, a sudden death where an individual is arrested at the scene and subsequently charged, but after post-mortem it is determined that the deceased person died of natural causes and not as a result of homicide.
• Malicious/False Allegation: Where the case against an individual has been withdrawn at any stage and there is corroborative evidence that the case was based on a malicious or false allegation.
• Proven Alibi: Where there is corroborative evidence that the individual has a proven alibi and as a result, are eliminated from the enquiry after being arrested.
• Suspect status not clear at the time of arrest: Where an individual is arrested at the outset of an enquiry, the distinction between the offender, victim and witness is not clear, and the individual is subsequently eliminated as a suspect (but may be a witness or victim).

Note that an individual cannot apply to have their records deleted where an investigation into them remains ongoing. Neither can individuals with a court conviction apply under the records deletion process. A conviction would be challenged by way of an appeal.

What is a criminal record check and in what circumstances are they carried out?

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is a way for employers to check a person’s criminal record and may be requested as part of their recruitment process. There are different levels of DBS checks, which may show spent or unspent convictions.

Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, cautions, reprimands and warnings and some convictions become “spent” after a certain period. Once a record becomes spent it does not usually need to be declared to employers or voluntary organisations. For details see the gov.uk page Check if you need to tell someone about your criminal record.

However, if a person applies for a so-called “excepted position”, then the prospective employer is entitled to ask for details of both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings by way of a criminal records check conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service. Excepted positions cover, for example, work with children or vulnerable adults, roles in certain licensed occupations or positions of trust.

What is disclosed in a criminal record check?

Four types of checks are issued by the DBS: basic, standard, enhanced, and enhanced with barred list(s). The charity Unlock has published an A-Z of job roles with the likely level of criminal record check required for each of them.

• A basic check shows unspent convictions and conditional cautions.
• A standard check contains details of all spent and unspent convictions and adult cautions, (as held on the PNC) except those which, under the filtering rules (see below), should no longer be disclosed.
• An enhanced check includes the same information as a standard check together with police intelligence or non-conviction information if it is deemed relevant and the chief officer believes it ought to be included.
• An enhanced with barred list check includes the same information as an enhanced check together with details of whether the individual concerned is on the lists maintained by the DBS of those barred from working with children and/or vulnerable adults.

The “filtering rules”

Some PNC information relating to old and minor convictions is not disclosed on a DBS check. The information is “filtered out” under rules referred to as the “filtering rules”.

The “filtering rules” are as follows:

Standard and enhanced DBS checks must always include the following records no matter when they were received: 

• All convictions for specified offences
• Adult cautions for specified offences
• All convictions that resulted in a custodial sentence

Other records must be included depending on when the caution or conviction was received: 

• Any adult caution for a non-specified offence received within the last 6 years
• Any adult conviction for a non-specified offence received within the last 11 years
• Any youth conviction for a non-specified offence received within the last 5 and a half years

An ‘adult’ is any individual aged 18 or above at the time of the caution or conviction. A ‘youth’ is any individual aged under 18 at the time of the caution or conviction. 

A ‘specified offence’ is one which is on the list of specified offences agreed by Parliament which will always be disclosed on a standard or enhanced DBS check where it resulted in a conviction or an adult caution. Youth cautions for specified offences will not be automatically disclosed. 

Any cautions (including reprimands and warnings) and convictions not covered by the rules above are ‘protected’ and will not appear on a DBS check automatically. 

Cautions, reprimands and warnings received when an individual was under 18 will not appear on a standard or enhanced check automatically.

Non-conviction information

The two types of enhanced checks provide details of relevant and proportionate non-conviction information. Disclosure of such information is not automatic but is done on a case-by-case basis following the exercise of police discretion. The test the police use when deciding whether to disclose non-conviction information is whether the chief officer “reasonably believes it to be relevant” for the check.

There is statutory guidance to chief officers on providing information for inclusion in enhanced checks.

There is an appeal process available if an applicant believes that incorrect or irrelevant information on convictions has been included. Further information on this process may be found on gov.uk: Report a problem about a criminal record check or barring decision.

Sources of support

• Individuals can contact the DBS customer services using the details provided on the DBS pages of gov.uk:Contact the Disclosure and Barring Service.
• The charityUnlock provides advice and information for people with convictions, offering a helpline service.
• Nacro provides services in criminal justice, housing, health and education, includinga Criminal Record Support Service.