An analysis of Disclosure and Barring Service applications for 2015/16

Product Description

This report summarises analysis undertaken to inform proposed amendments to Part V of the Police Act 1997. The Act governs the disclosure of criminal record information by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in England and Wales. Disclosure rules set out in Part V of the Police Act 1997 determine what convictions and cautions are disclosed on certificates. The proposed amendments remove two of the rules that disclose some or all of an applicant’s criminal record history:1 the ‘multiple conviction’ and ‘youth caution’ rules.
Analysis was undertaken on a 2015/16 dataset held by the DBS. This dataset included information on applicants’ criminal records history and details of which convictions and cautions were disclosed to employers under the DBS criminal record check.

The analysis shows how many convictions and cautions, and of which type, would no longer be disclosed to employers upon the completion of a DBS criminal record check. It also shows how many applicants – had the proposed rule changes been retrospectively applied to 2015/16 applications – would have returned clear certificates, with no other criminal record history disclosed under the remaining disclosure rules.