DISCLOSURE OF POLICE
INFORMATION TO EMPLOYERS:
FAQs
The purpose of this document is to address some of the queries the Union
receives about the disclosure of information (e.g., unsubstantiated allegations) to
employers by the police. It supplements the NUT guidance document CRB
Checks: Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults, which may be found at:
www.teachers.org. Any issues not addressed in this document should be referred
to your NUT regional or Wales office in the first instance.
What is ‘conviction’ information?
Conviction information includes information relating to cautions, reprimands and final
warnings, as well as to convictions. Such information is normally recorded on the Police
National Computer (the PNC), which is a centralised database, distinct from the local
records maintained by individual forces.
What is ‘soft’ or ‘non-conviction’ information?
Every police force maintains a local record of non-conviction information which is
generally referred to as ‘soft information’. Non-conviction or soft information can include
Fixed Penalty Notices, Penalty Notices for Disorder, findings of innocence, acquittals,
the cautions and convictions of those that you live with and unproven allegations.
What is the reason for providing employers and prospective employers with soft
information?
Following the Soham murders, the police were widely criticised for failing to disclose the
details of previous allegations against Ian Huntley to the school in which he worked. It
was considered a significant flaw in safeguarding arrangements that documented
concerns about an individual’s suitability to work with children could be hidden from
head teachers and school governing bodies. A number of initiatives have since been
introduced to remedy the situation, but it is argued now that the balance has swung too
far the other way and that this has given rise to unfair and unjust outcomes for many
teachers and others who work with children and vulnerable adults.
In what circumstances may soft information be disclosed to employers?
Soft information can appear on the Other Relevant Information section of a DBS
Disclosure certificate whenever an application is made for an enhanced DBS check.
The Chief Constable of every police force has a statutory duty to disclose any nonconviction information held by the local police force which s/he reasonably believes to be
relevant to the DBS application and ought to be disclosed.
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In addition, the Chief Constable has common law powers which s/he can use to share
soft information with employers in circumstances falling outside the DBS procedures
(e.g., where a serious allegation of abuse against a teacher is referred to the police, the
Chief Constable may exercise her/his discretion to bring that allegation to the attention
of the teacher’s employer(s)).
Can false or unsubstantiated allegations be disclosed in my DBS certificate?
Any soft information which comes to the attention of the police may be disclosed as part
of an enhanced DBS check, even if the information is unfounded or unsubstantiated.
The NUT believes considerable care should be taken by the police when recording an
unsubstantiated and unfounded allegation because of the tremendous damage it can do
to a teacher’s career and reputation. In the past, we have seen police officers
investigating allegations record that there was ‘no case to answer’, or that there was ‘not
enough evidence to proceed’, or that ‘no charges [were] brought’ but that ‘the matter
was referred to the employers to deal with internally’. If any of these or similarly worded
statements appear on your DBS Disclosure certificate, contact your NUT regional or
Wales office.
Can soft information be disclosed to my employer or prospective employer
without my knowledge?
In previous years, police forces had powers under the Police Act 1997 to provide certain
sensitive ‘additional information’ about job applicants only to employers and not to the
applicants themselves. This was sometimes referred to as ‘brown envelope’ material
and it was issued separately to an Enhanced DBS Disclosure. While that power no
longer exists in the Police Act, the police nevertheless have common law powers which
they can use in rare circumstances to provide information directly to your employer or
employment agency, without your knowledge. For example, the police may disclose
information to your employer without your knowledge in order to prevent or detect the
commission of a crime. However, the general rule is that you should, at the very least,
be aware that personal data about you has been, or is going to be, shared with your
employer – even if your consent to such sharing is not needed.
Can soft information be disclosed to my employer or prospective employer
without my consent?
In relation to disclosures falling outside the DBS arrangements, the Union’s casework
experience is that the police will seek the consent of the teacher concerned before
disclosing information to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or school
governing body/head teacher. Contact your NUT regional or Wales office if the police
have disclosed information relating to you to your employer without your consent and
this has caused you substantial (i.e., more than minor or trivial) and unwarranted
financial damage and/or distress (please provide medical evidence where available).
In relation to disclosures falling within the DBS arrangements, the Chief Constable is of
course entitled to disclose soft information if s/he reasonably believes it to be relevant to
the DBS application. In any event, a DBS check cannot be carried out without your
consent.
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What if the information disclosed relates to a relative or close friend rather than to
me?
In the Union’s casework experience, it rarely happens that the police will pass
information on to a school or LADO relating to an individual who is closely associated
with a teacher. However, there have been one or two occasions where information has
been passed to a head teacher because a teacher’s partner/spouse or some other close
relative has been convicted of a serious offence of a sexual or violent nature against a
child or children. The Union does not object to this practice in principle. However, every
complaint brought to the Union’s attention will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
How should head teachers respond to information relating to third parties?
Head teacher members are advised not to subject teachers to formal or informal
disciplinary processes because of the actions of a close relative. Teachers require
support from their school and colleagues in such circumstances, not judgement. Head
teachers should seek instead to assess the risk of harm posed by the teacher because
of her/his close association with the third party and to take appropriate action to remove
or minimise any risks identified (e.g., restrict the use of personal information relating to
pupils, such as their home address and contact details, outside of school premises).
Asking a teacher to sign an undertaking that s/he will have no contact with the third party
in future (as happened in one case) is not considered by the Union to be an appropriate
response.
Will minor driving offences be disclosed on a DBS certificate?
It is unusual for administrative offences, such as minor driving offences, to be disclosed
to an existing or prospective employer. This is because minor driving offences are not
usually recorded on the Police National Computer (the PNC). However, the details of a
minor driving offence may appear in the Other Relevant Information section of a DBS
certificate where it forms part of local police records and where the Chief Constable
reasonably believes the offence to be relevant to the DBS application (e.g., if your job
involves driving the school bus then it may be reasonable to disclose details of your
minor driving offences).
I was cautioned for a drug related offence when I was a student at University. Will
this appear in my DBS Disclosure certificate?
Until quite recently, the position was that if the offence was recorded on the PNC, the
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) would have to disclose it, regardless of how long
ago the offence was recorded against your name, or how relatively minor the offence
was, or how irrelevant the offence might be to your application. However, the Court of
Appeal has recently ruled that the indiscriminate disclosure of conviction information to
employers may amount to a breach of the Human Rights Act. It is unlikely that your
caution will be disclosed in your DBS certificate if it is an old and minor offence, although
please refer to the FAQs below for guidance in the event that it is disclosed.
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I was cautioned many years ago, at a time when it was an offence for two men to
be in a sexual relationship. Will the caution be disclosed to my prospective
employer?
Recent changes to the law mean that any past convictions or cautions relating to
consensual sex between men can be removed from the PNC provided you apply to the
Home Office to have the conviction or caution disregarded. The Home Secretary will
ultimately make the final decision. Under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the
Home Secretary must direct the relevant data controller (i.e., the Chief Constable of the
force which investigated the offence) to delete the details of any cautions or convictions
that the Home Secretary agrees to disregard. The Chief Constable of the relevant police
force must subsequently delete the relevant records ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’.
You should be notified in writing once the deletion has taken place and your relevant
records should not be disclosed to a prospective employer pending its deletion/removal
from the PNC. The offence will no longer appear on criminal record checks and nor will
it have to be voluntarily disclosed. To apply for convictions to be removed, visit the
Home Office website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file
/118140/guidance-application.pdf
How should I resolve any recruitment issues which may arise because of soft
information or previous offences?
Before you apply for a new teaching post, try to obtain an enhanced DBS Disclosure
certificate to see what will appear on the face of your certificate. You will need to use
the services of an ‘umbrella body’ to obtain a certificate, as it is a condition of the DBS
Disclosure process that your identity is checked. A list of umbrella bodies (some offering
their services for free) may be found by using the search facility at: www.gov.uk/dbs.
Alternatively, if you are unable to find a suitable umbrella body, you can make a data
subject access request to your local police force, which will provide you with up-to-date
details of any criminal records in the UK (including non-conviction material) relating to
you. A subject access application form can be downloaded from most police force
websites. There are links to local police force websites in England and Wales on the
ACPO Criminal Records Office website at: www.acro.police.uk.
If soft information or previous offences are included in your DBS Disclosure then try to
address this in your job application form before it becomes an issue later on in the
recruitment process. Where appropriate, you should apply to have the soft information
or offence(s) removed from your DBS certificate.
How do I apply to have soft information removed from my CRB Disclosure
certificate?
You may raise objections about the content of your DBS Disclosure certificate in one of
two ways. You may either lodge a complaint directly with the relevant Chief Constable
or through the DBS Disputes Procedure. The advantage of raising a complaint directly
with the relevant police force is that you may receive a prompt response. However, the
DBS disputes team provides a more streamlined and consistent approach to dealing
with disputes. DBS certificate disputes and fingerprint consent forms and guidance may
be obtained from: www.gov.uk/dbs.
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If the police refuse to remove or amend the disputed information, you may refer your
complaint to the Independent Monitor, which is a new office set up to resolve disputes
between the subject matter of a DBS Disclosure and the Chief Constable. Further
information about the role of the Independent Monitor is available from the NUT
guidance document CRB Checks: Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults.
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