Rehabilitation Periods under Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA)

Rehabilitation Periods under Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA)

Please take a moment to review the information below, which we hope will help simplify the distinctions between Rehabilitation Periods under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) and the Filtering Guidance for DBS checks (applies to England & Wales only).

This information is crucial as both processes impact how criminal convictions or cautions are handled over time but serve different purposes.

By understanding these differences, you will be better able to navigate situations where past convictions or cautions need to be disclosed or filtered, particularly in relation to job applications and DBS checks.

The Rehabilitation Periods under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) and the Filtering Guidance for DBS checks both deal with how criminal convictions or cautions are treated over time, but they serve different purposes and apply in different contexts. Here’s a breakdown of the differences:

Rehabilitation Periods (Under the ROA)

1. Purpose: Rehabilitation periods refer to the time after which certain convictions or cautions become spent. Once a conviction is spent, it generally no longer needs to be disclosed for most purposes, such as job applications (except in certain cases like applying for jobs with children or vulnerable adults).
2. Application:
   1. Applies to all jobs, except for those that are exempt from the ROA (jobs that require a higher level of disclosure, like working with children or in healthcare).
   1. After the rehabilitation period has passed, the conviction becomes spent and doesn’t need to be disclosed unless an exception applies.
3. Duration: The rehabilitation period depends on:
   1. The length and type of sentence.
   1. The age of the offender when convicted.
   1. Serious convictions (e.g., life sentences, certain violent/sexual crimes) never become spent.
4. Effect: Once the rehabilitation period is over and the conviction is spent, it generally won’t show up in basic DBS checks but may still be disclosed in standard or enhanced DBS checks if the conviction is serious or relevant to the job.

DBS Filtering Guidance

1. Purpose: Filtering is a process where certain old or minor cautions and convictions are removed from standard or enhanced DBS checks after a set period of time. It aims to prevent the disclosure of convictions that are no longer relevant, allowing people with minor offences to move forward without their past affecting job prospects unnecessarily.
2. Application:
   1. Applies specifically to standard and enhanced DBS checks.
   1. Filtering automatically removes certain minor convictions and cautions after a specific period, so they won’t appear in the check.
   1. Convictions and cautions that meet specific criteria (for instance, serious offences or those that resulted in a custodial sentence) will not be filtered, even if they are spent.
3. Criteria:
   1. Cautions are filtered after 6 years for adults (or 2 years for under 18s), as long as they weren’t for a serious offence.
   1. Convictions are filtered after 11 years for adults (or 5.5 years for under 18s), if they didn’t result in a prison sentence and were for minor offences.
   1. Serious convictions (like sexual offences, violent crimes, or those that involve a sentence of imprisonment) are never filtered.
4. Effect: Filtering ensures that minor and old convictions are not disclosed on a standard or enhanced DBS check, even if they are technically unspent under the ROA. However, employers may still see serious convictions.

Key Differences:

Summary:

• Rehabilitation periods determine when a conviction is considered “spent” and no longer needs to be disclosed (except for certain jobs).
• Filtering is a DBS-specific process that automatically removes certain old/minor convictions or cautions from appearing in standard or enhanced DBS checks.

In simple terms: rehabilitation periods affect when you stop needing to declare a conviction, while filtering affects whether or not a conviction even shows up in certain DBS checks.