Welcoming Home Secretary Alan Johnson’s call for a review of which criminal records are held on the police national computer, with an eye to removing old and irrelevant records, Mervyn Barrett from Nacro, the crime reduction charity, commented:

“The decision to delete old and irrelevant criminal records is long overdue. If Alan Johnson keeps to his word, many people will be able to get jobs and move on with their lives for the first time. Current legislation – in some cases allowing minor offences to stay on file for 100 years – is archaic and unconstructive, and proves a major stumbling block for people who are committed to reinventing themselves and living a crime-free life.

A quarter of the working population in the UK has a criminal record, and the number being turned down for jobs or discriminated against because of old or irrelevant convictions has steadily been increasing. When people have their prospects limited in this way, it much more difficult for them to go straight. Denying them a chance to turn their lives around actually makes our society less safe as a result.”