For people who've put their criminal past behind them

Nearly 40 years on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is out of date. It stops people who have turned their back on crime from finding a job.

And with one in three men having a criminal conviction, this affects millions of people.

A job provides: structured time; an income; the opportunity for a new outlook and new relationships; a legitimate identity; ambitions and goals; and financial security. It also gives those who have turned their back on crime the chance to give something back to their community. Employment can also help reduce the risk of reoffending for some people, which means less crime for the rest of us.

What we are calling for

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is an important piece of legislation. It is designed to help people with a criminal record get back into work by allowing their record to become ‘spent’ after a period of time, provided they have not reoffended.

Once a record is spent, this means that the person is no longer required to declare their offence to a prospective employer. At this point, as the Act says, they are ‘entitled to be treated for all purposes in law as a person who has not been convicted or sentenced’.

Nacro is calling for the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 to be amended in line with the proposals set out in the amended review by the Home Office of the Act in 2002.

The amended Act must reduce the time it takes for offences to become spent (otherwise known as the buffer period). We therefore support the establishment of new buffer periods as follows:

• Fines to be disclosed for one year.
• Prison sentences of less than four years to be disclosed for two years.
• Prison sentences lasting four years or more to be disclosed for four years.
• Life sentences to be disclosed in perpetuity.
• Buffer periods for young people to be reduced.

As long ago as 2002, a Home Office review said of the Act:

‘There are no winners... Not those with a criminal record denied the opportunity to put their past behind them. Not employers who lose out on committed and conscientious employees, and on resources and skills that otherwise may not be on offer. And certainly not our communities, because denying employment opportunities to people with a criminal record increases the risk of reoffending.’

Over the next few months we will be campaigning in Westminster, both in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, to persuade the government of the need for reform.

If you would like to keep up to date with our campaign, please contact us at: changetherecord@nacro.org.uk