Reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 came into force this week. These reforms significantly reduce the period of time that individuals with criminal convictions are legally required to declare them to employers after serving their sentence. We often refer to these as "spent" convictions.

The previous rehabilitation periods were:

- community order – one year beginning with the last day on which the order had effect
- custody of six months or less – two years
- custody of more than six months and up to 30 months – four years
- custody of more than 30 months and up to four years – seven years
- for offences with custodial sentences of more than four years, the conviction was never spent.

The new rehabilitation periods are as follows:

- community order – the last day on which the order had effect
- custody of one year or less – one year
- custody of more than one year and up to four years – four years
- custody of more than four years – seven years.

It should be noted that convictions for serious sexual, violent, or terrorist offences continue to never be spent, and stricter disclosure rules will continue to apply to jobs that involve working with vulnerable people where enhanced DBS checks are required.

The logic for these changes is that the Government believe too many reformed ex-offenders are being denied employment opportunities, and that these changes will immediately impact upon 125,000 people sentenced in 2022 alone. Increasing the number of ex-offenders who can find employment is said to reduce reoffending, which costs the taxpayer £18 billion each year.