For certain types of employment, it is lawful to ask questions at
interview about spent convictions and to reject a person for employment on the
grounds of a spent conviction. The list below includes the excluded professions;
offices, employments and works; and regulated occupations, as outlined in the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (SI 1975/1023) (which was revoked
in relation to Scotland on 29 March 2003).
| Professions |
| Healthcare professional |
| Barrister (in England and Wales), advocate (in Scotland), solicitor |
| Chartered accountant, certified accountant |
| Veterinary surgeon |
| Registered teacher (in Scotland) |
| Actuary |
| Registered foreign lawyer |
| Legal executive |
| Receiver appointed by the Court of Protection |
| Home inspector |
| Offices, Employments and Works |
| Judicial appointments |
| The Director of Public Prosecutions and any office or employment in the Crown Prosecution Service |
| Designated officers for magistrates' courts, for justices of the peace or for local justice areas, justices' clerks and assistants to justices' clerks |
| Clerks (including depute and assistant clerks) and officers of the High Court of Justiciary, the Court of Session and the district court, sheriff clerks (including sheriff clerks depute) and their clerks and assistants |
| Constables, persons appointed as police cadets to undergo training with a view to becoming constables and persons employed for the purposes of, or to assist the constables of, a police force established under any enactment; naval, military and air force police |
| Any employment which is concerned with the administration of, or is otherwise normally carried out wholly or partly within the precincts of, a prison, remand centre, removal centre, short-term holding facility, young offender institution or young offenders institution, and members of boards of visitors appointed under s.6 of the Prison Act 1952 or of visiting committees appointed under s.7 of the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1952 |
| Traffic wardens appointed under s.81 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 or s.9 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 |
| Probation officers appointed under sch.3 to the Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973 |
| Any office or employment which is concerned with: (a) the provision of care services to vulnerable adults; or (b) the representation of, or advocacy services for, vulnerable adults by a service that has been approved by the Secretary of State or created under any enactment; and which is of such a kind as to enable a person, in the course of his normal duties, to have access to vulnerable adults in receipt of such services |
| Any work which is regulated activity relating to vulnerable adults within the meaning of part 2 of sch.4 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 as it had effect immediately before the coming into force of s.66 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 |
| Any employment or other work which is concerned with the provision of health services and which is of such a kind as to enable the holder of that employment or the person engaged in that work to have access to persons in receipt of such services in the course of his normal duties |
| Any work which is (a) work in a regulated position; or (b) work in a further education institution where the normal duties of that work involve regular contact with persons aged under 18 |
| Any work which is regulated activity relating to children within the meaning of part 1 of sch.4 to the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 as it had effect immediately before the coming into force of s.64 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 |
| Any employment in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals where the person employed or working, as part of his duties, may carry out the humane killing of animals |
| Any office or employment in the Serious Fraud Office |
| Any office or employment in the Serious Organised Crime Agency |
| The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and any office or employment in their service |
| The Director and any office or employment in the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office |
| Any employment which is concerned with the monitoring, for the purposes of child protection, of communications by means of the internet |
| Any employment or other work which is normally carried out in premises approved under s.9 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 |
| Any employment or other work which is normally carried out in a hospital used only for the provision of high security psychiatric services |
| An individual designated under s.2 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 |
| Judges' clerks, secretaries and legal secretaries within the meaning of s.98 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 |
| Court officers and court contractors who, in the course of their work, have face to face contact with judges of the Supreme Court, or access to such judges' lodgings |
| Persons who, in the course of their work, have regular access to personal information relating to an identified or identifiable member of the judiciary |
| Court officers and court contractors who, in the course of their work, attend either the Royal Courts of Justice or the Central Criminal Court |
| Court security officers and tribunal security officers |
| Court contractors who, in the course of their work, have unsupervised access to court-houses, offices and other accommodation used in relation to the courts |
| Contractors, sub-contractors, and any person acting under the authority of such a contractor or sub-contractor, who, in the course of their work, have unsupervised access to tribunal buildings, offices and other accommodation used in relation to tribunals |
| The following persons: (a) Court officers who execute county court warrants; (b) High Court enforcement officers; (c) sheriffs and under-sheriffs; (d) tipstaffs; (e) any other persons who execute High Court writs or warrants who act under the authority of a person listed at (a) to (d); (f) persons who execute writs of sequestration; (g) civilian enforcement officers as defined in s.125A of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980; (h) persons who are authorised to execute warrants under s.125B(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, and any other person (other than a constable) who is authorised to execute a warrant under s.125(2) of the 1980 Act; (i) persons who execute clamping orders, as defined in para.38(2) of sch.5 to the Courts Act 2003 |
| The Official Solicitor and his deputy |
| Persons appointed to the office of Public Trustee or deputy Public Trustee, and officers of the Public Trustee |
| Court officers and court contractors who exercise functions in connection with the administration and management of funds in court including the deposit, payment, delivery and transfer in, into and out of any court of funds in court and regulating the evidence of such deposit, payment, delivery or transfer and court officers and court contractors, who receive payments in pursuance of a conviction or order of a magistrates' court |
| People working in the Department for Education or the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills with access to sensitive or personal information about children |
| Any office, employment or other work which is concerned with the establishment or operation of a database under s.12 of the Children Act 2004, and which is of such a kind as to enable the holder of that office or employment, or the person engaged in that work, to have access to information included in the database |
| Any office, employment or other work which is of such a kind that the person is or may be permitted or required to be given access to a database under s.12 of the Children Act 2004 |
| The chairman, other members, and members of staff (including any person seconded to serve as a member of staff) of the Disclosure and Barring Service, and any other work in the Disclosure and Barring Service |
| Staff working within the Public Guardianship Office (to be known as the Office of the Public Guardian from October 2007) with access to data relating to children and vulnerable adults |
| The Commissioner for Older People in Wales, and his deputy, and any person appointed by the Commissioner to assist him in the discharge of his functions or authorised to discharge his functions on his behalf |
| The Commissioners for the Gambling Commission and any office or employment in their service |
| Individuals seeking authorisation from the Secretary of State for the Home Department to become authorised search officers |
| Any employment or other work where the normal duties (a) involve caring for, training, supervising, or being solely in charge of, persons aged under 18 serving in the naval, military or air forces of the Crown; or (b) include supervising or managing a person employed or working in a capacity referred to in paragraph (a). |
| Regulated Occupations |
| Firearms dealer |
| Any occupation in respect of which an application to the Gaming Board for Great Britain for a licence, certificate or registration is required by or under any enactment |
Any occupation which is concerned with (a) the management of a place in respect of which the approval of the Secretary of State is required by s.1 of the Abortion Act 1967; or (b) in England and Wales, carrying on a nursing home in respect of which registration is required by s.187 of the Public Health Act 1936 or s.14 of the Mental Health Act 1959; or (c) in Scotland, carrying on a nursing home in respect of which registration is required under s.1 of the Nursing Homes Registration (Scotland) Act 1938 or a private hospital in respect of which registration is required under s.15 of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 |
| Any occupation which is concerned with carrying on an establishment in respect of which registration is required by s.37 of the National Assistance Act 1948 or s.61 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 |
| Any occupation in respect of which the holder, as occupier of premises on which explosives are kept, is required pursuant to regs.4 and 7 of the Control of Explosives Regulations 1991 (SI 1991/1531) to obtain from the chief officer of police a valid explosives certificate certifying him to be a fit person to acquire or acquire and keep explosives |
| Approved legal services body manager |
| Regulated immigration advisor |
| Head of finance and administration of a licensed body |
| Head of legal practice of a licensed body |