Government should ‘ban the box’ in DBS criminal records overhaul

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The current disclosure of youth criminal records in the UK undermines principles of youth justice and could fall short of the UK’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. That’s according to an influential report published today by MPs, which recommends an urgent review of the filtering regime, including:

• to outlaw tick boxes asking job applicants about criminal history;
• to consider removing the rule preventing the filtering of multiple convictions;
• introducing lists of non-filterable offences customised for particular areas of employment; and
• reducing qualifying periods for the filtering of childhood convictions and cautions.

Witnesses appearing before the justice select committee highlighted the impact that childhood criminal records have on individuals’ access to employment, education, and housing, and the discriminatory effect on children from the care system and black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. The committee recommends the Government implements Business in the Community’s Ban the Box scheme to all public sector vacancies and considers making it mandatory for all employers. Ban the Box aims to delay the point at which job applicants have to disclose criminal convictions, allowing them to be judged primarily on merit. Committee chair Bob Neill said: “We accept that employers are entitled to know about genuine and relevant risks arising from previous criminal conduct. “However the clear difficulties in securing employment faced by people with youth criminal records, often for a lengthy period after they have become adults, leads us to conclude that too many employers fail to make an objective and balanced assessment of the relevance of ‘unspent’ criminal offences declared in job applications.” Neill said the Government’s primary objective in youth justice – to stop people being drawn into crime – was “systematically undermined by the current dis