Offenders to be allowed earlier clean slate

Proposals to reduce the length of time most people will have to disclose their previous criminal activity have been put out to consultation today by the Scottish Government.

The launch coincides with a conference in Edinburgh to look at ways of getting those with criminal convictions into work. Figures have been published revealing that 80% of prisoners in Scotland were unemployed at the time they were sent to prison, that it is eight times harder for those who have previously served a prison sentence to gain employment, and three quarters of employers admit to discriminating against applicants who have criminal convictions.

With over one third of adult males in Scotland, and nearly one in 10 adult females, likely to have at least one criminal conviction, but having stable employment being one of the key factors in influencing people not to reoffend, the consultation paper states: "Public safety and the interests of wider society are, therefore, generally best served by encouraging and enabling people to move on from their offending behaviour as much as possible."

Ministers are proposing to reform the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which sets out periods after which, as a general rule, people are no longer required to disclose offences where they were not sentenced to more than 30 months in prison. They accept the view that the periods, of between five and 10 years unless the offender was under 18 at the time, are not appropriate and do not reflect the point at which reoffending tails off following previous criminal activity. The Act is also considered to be too complicated. As a result it is not properly applied in practice and fails to achieve the necessary balance between public safety and enabling people who do not pose any ongoing significant risk to move on in their lives.

With average sentences increasing in length, but more successful rehabilitation programmes now available, the proposal is that rehabilitation periods should apply to anyone sentenced to up to 48 months – i.e. those not classed as long term prisoners. They do not propose to go as far as a Home Office review in 2002 which suggested that no group other than those on life licence should be automatically excluded from the scheme, believing that this will create a more proportionate system.

Regarding disclosure periods, the following proposals are made:

• Those dealt with by alternatives to prosecution, of whom those dealt with by fiscal-imposed orders and certain others have to self-disclose for a three month period, would be wholly exempt from disclosure.
• For non-custodial disposals in court, where in most cases the current rehabilitation period is five years, varying periods are suggested such as six months for an admonition, 12 months plus the length of the order for disposals such as community payback orders, probation, and drug treatment and testing orders, and 12 months for a fine or compensation order.
• For custodial sentences, there would be a rising scale of disclosure periods: length of sentence plus two years for sentences of up to 12 months; length of sentence plus four years between 12 and 30 months; length of sentence plus six years for between 30 and 48 months; and lifelong disclosure for sentences of more than 48 months.
• All the above periods would still be halved where an offence is committed under the age of 18.

Similar reforms have already been made in England & Wales but in some cases the proposed Scottish periods would be shorter.

Ministers have powers to amend the rehabilitation periods by delegated legislation. Reforms to help reduce the level of confusion over spent and unspent convictions, or to hold employers to account for discriminatory practices – as to which ministers have "an open mind" – would require primary legislation.

Community Safety Minister Paul Wheelhouse, who launched the consultation at the conference today, said:

“We know that getting people back into a job drastically reduces their chances of reoffending as it gives them financial security, a stable environment, routine and improves their self-esteem. Often, these individuals also have children and families to support, so by improving access to employment not only benefits those with criminal convictions, but wider society too, and reduces inequality.

“My view is that attitudes need to change. With evidence showing that 80% of offenders were unemployed at the time of their crimes, it is clear that if we are serious about reducing reoffending in Scotland’s communities, we need to do more to support people back into work after they’ve repaid their debts to society. We need to do everything we can to stop the revolving door to our prisons which sees people in and out of prison time and time again only to go on and commit more crimes in the future. We need to tackle the underlying causes of reoffending and employment is a significant barrier we must address.

“Let me be clear, this consultation is about getting the balance right between protecting the public and enabling those people with previous criminal records to enter the workforce. This is not a proposal that will affect those who work with children or the elderly – they will still be subjected to the same existing levels of protection."

Click here to view the consultation. The deadline for responses is 12 August 2015.