Vetting

(asked on 27th June 2017) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans the Government has to include the offences of (a) stalking, (b) coercive control and (c) harassment in the list of offences that will never be filtered from a disclosure and barring certificate.


Answered by
Sarah Newton Portrait
Sarah Newton
This question was answered on 5th July 2017

Disclosure and barring arrangements seek to strike a balance between offender rehabilitation and safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Public protection is a key priority for the Government and under current legislation all cautions and convictions for specified serious violent and sexual offences, which includes certain harassment and stalking offences, will always remain subject to disclosure on a Disclosure and Barring Service certificate.

In addition there are a number of safeguards aimed at ensuring convictions that may suggest a safeguarding risk are disclosed. Convictions will continue to be disclosed if less than 11 years has passed (or 5 and a half years if the offender was under 18), a custodial sentence was received or if an individual has more than one conviction.

The Government takes its responsibilities in supporting public protection very seriously and will continue to consider what steps should be taken to ensure that disclosure arrangements continue to protect the public from safeguarding risks, including keeping the list of offences that are never filtered from a certificate under constant review.

Reticulating Splines