‘A second chance’: children guilty of serious offences will no longer have to declare criminal records

Ministers in England and Wales have proposed changing the rules on criminal records for offences committed by children, so certain serious convictions would no longer have to be disclosed for life. The government says the reforms could improve access to work, particularly for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, while supporting a wider effort to reduce the number of children in custody.

Under the proposals, convictions for offences including robbery, violent disorder and supplying drugs to a child would need to be disclosed for five and a half years if there was no custodial sentence, or 11 years after a sentence of up to two years. Longer sentences would still carry a lifelong disclosure requirement. The plans would also end disclosure of fines and automatic disclosure of out-of-court resolutions; they are subject to consultation.