• For roles involving finance, financially-related offences and offences involving dishonesty will often be regarded as relevant, whereas offences involving violence may not be if the position doesn’t involve contact with members of the public.
• For driving roles (e.g. a coach driver), drink-driving offences will often be relevant, yet offences involving money may not be.
• For roles working with children, offences involving serious violence, sexual abuse or serious drugs offences will often be relevant, whereas many offences involving dishonesty (such as fraudulently claiming benefits) will generally not be.
• For roles with vulnerable adults, violent and sexual offences will generally be regarded as relevant. For work with older people, minor drugs offences will generally be less relevant than if the work involves working with teenagers. Offences involving dishonesty (such as theft from an individual) may be regarded as more relevant to working with vulnerable people because of the position of trust that the individual may have, but offences such as shoplifting might not be.
• There are a range of offences (such as most driving and public order offences) that have little relevance to most roles working with children or vulnerable adults.

• Financial offences – Was it theft or fraud?
• Violent offences – What was the nature of the violence? Was it against a vulnerable person?
• Drugs offences – Was it possession or did it involve supply?
• Sexual offences – Was physical contact involved?

• Burglary can range from breaking into shops to targeting elderly people and stealing from their homes.
• The offences of “common assault” and “actual bodily harm” can range from slapping a friend on a night out (often recorded as common assault) to intentionally attacking someone.
• Arson can range from making a fire to keep warm to intentionally setting out to destroy property and endanger lives.
• Sexual offences can range from a teenage relationship where one party is under the age of consent to sexual assault, rape and other very serious offences.
• Motoring offences can range from speeding to causing death by dangerous driving
• Drugs offences can range from possessing cannabis for personal use to possessing cocaine (a class A drug). Supply offences range from sharing with a friend to trafficking drugs into the country.

• If they committed a number of offences, is there a significant gap between the offences, or were they over a particular period of time? Those with a pattern of offending up until quite recently might not be able to demonstrate that they have stopped offending. Clear evidence of a break in the pattern of their offending can be important, especially for drink and drug related offences.
• If there was a pattern of offending, you should consider how much time has passed since (see below) and what their motivation was for offending, and why they are no longer doing so. The vast majority of people stop offending at some point, and the time since their last offence is an important indicator of this.

• The law on criminal records disclosure considers the length of time since a key factor in recognising that people can and do stop committing crime. For example, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act is based primarily on the time passed to determine whether a conviction becomes spent. Likewise, the DBS filtering system for standard and enhanced checks.
• Offences disclosed on official criminal record certificates can be very old. They may not be relevant for most roles because of how long ago they were, especially where the person has not offended since.
• The highest rate of reoffending is in the first year of release from prison. After 2 years has passed, the reoffending rate drops dramatically.
• Research shows convictions that are more than 7 years old are not predictive of a person’s likelihood of committing a further offence.

• Each offence is different. It may not be necessary to go into each offence in detail, but some questions about what happened, who was involved (if appropriate) and why it happened might be helpful.
• In most cases, you should be looking for a clear explanation that helps reassure you.
• Where there any aggravating or mitigating circumstances? There may have been personal circumstances involved at the time, including issues with accommodation, education, employment, management of finances and income, lifestyle and associates, relationships, drugs and alcohol, emotional well-being or health.
• Someone whose offence took place against a backdrop or domestic abuse, or other trauma may find it very emotional to talk about what happened.
• Every offence, and every situation, is different. You might not need to consider all of the above for every situation.

• Looking back, what is their attitude about what happened?
• Consider whether you think the applicant is being open and honest.
• Bear in mind that there is no reliable way to assess whether someone is remorseful, and remorse is not indicative of whether someone will commit a further offence. Someone who has talked about their past many times, or is describing something from a long time ago, may find it difficult to convey emotion about it.
• How genuinely do they come across? Are they sincere?

• The vast majority of people (including those with a pattern of offending) eventually turn their lives around and stop committing crime. There will often be clear evidence of this by the length of time it’s been since their last conviction.
• You should take into account whether the applicant’s circumstances have changed since they last offended. Talking to them about what they’ve done since their last conviction will give you a better understanding. Even if it was quite recent, significant changes could have take place.
• What responsibilities have they taken on? Many people stop offending once they have family responsibilities.
• Have they addressed past issues that led to their offending?
• People with recent convictions can still reach the point where they want to put their offending behind them and put their skills towards a more positive lifestyle. Even if the offences are quite recent, if the offence is not related to the role, you should still consider.
• If the conviction is recent, can a reference be sought from their probation officer or support worker to support the efforts they’ve made?

For most jobs, spent convictions do not need to disclosed. However, the law that determines this can result in some strange anomalies.

For example, an individual is applying for a job in a supermarket. Just under 5 years ago, they were sent to prison for 8 months for theft from their employer. This is spent now and so it wouldn’t need to be disclosed.

However, another individual is applying for the same job. 4 years ago they were given a fine for drink-driving. This is still technically unspent and so would need to be disclosed.