Old conviction still appearing on enhanced DBS after seven years

[itshereagain]

Seven years ago I was convicted of a crime, nothing violent or sexual. It shouldn’t show on an enhanced dbs according to everything I’ve researched once six years have passed but it does. Wondering if I need to do something in particular to remove it.

A DBS shows all convictions, spent or unspent.

Enhanced dbs you mean. This always used to be the case but has changed, or should have.

If it’s spent, then it won’t show on a basic one. But enhanced can show everything; there is a specific list of crimes which will
never be left off. I can’t remember the term but there is a right to be forgotten with a lot of crimes, so they can be left off an enhanced. But if your crime is on the list of never excluded then it will never be excluded.

I don’t know about England but with disclosure Scotland, you can appeal to have it removed and as long as it’s spent and not on that list of crimes, then they might remove it depending on circumstances.

What was your conviction? This is an anonymous forum so just say what it is, and then you can get help.

Surely that’s the point of a dbs tho

tho show the past of something whether drunk driving or shop lifting etc

www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-filtering-guidance/dbs-filtering-guide

Don’t adult convictions stay on for 11years? For cautions it’s 6 years.

It's 11 years if were an adult at the time for convictions

It is but that’s not what I’m asking

It was for driving whilst disqualified, @SnappyQuoter . Long story!

Google does throw up some different suggestions but certainly my understanding was that if the conviction was on a certain list (mostly non fraudulent, non sexual and non violent) it wouldn’t disappear after six years. Mine hasn’t however, just had my first dbs back in seven years and there it is.

Yes, I’ve just seen that when googling further bit the six years is still being suggested from other sources.

It was a caution I got. I’m confusing myself to be fair.

Enhanced DBSs show all spent and unspent cautions & convictions unless they are eligible to be “filtered” which doesn’t happen until 11 years have passed (less for youth convictions etc)

Thanks, it does seem to be 11 years then. Four to go 😩

It doesn’t mean you won’t be able to work or volunteer, even with it showing up. Be honest and upfront during interview processes, or with the school/volunteer organisations if it’s for something like parent helper.

It’s a thing that happened. It’s a problem if you can’t talk about it and be honest.

I run a business. I hired someone with an embezzlement conviction, because she was totally honest and even brought the judgement for me to read for myself. It didn’t affect my opinion on hiring, because she put herself on a level playing field with the others by being honest.

I know, I’m working now and volunteering but I want to put it behind me for me. It’s embarrassing explaining and so I won’t apply for new roles while it’s on

If you got a suspended sentence then it stays on enhanced forever. Which is the case for me and my very embarrassing tale.

You just have to acknowledge it and crack on. Explain to the employer and note how it’s all behind you. Nobody has treated me with anything but respect for doing the same.

I think as long as you are honest to employers that’s all you can do

does that mean you aren’t allowed to drive currently ? As long as it doesn’t effect you getting to job or needing to drive in job if you can’t , I would like to think people would take a chance on you

also why you were disqualified - say it was for drink driving v speeding and got 12 points

you’ve done 7yrs. Assume you haven’t done it since - 4 to go

and a caution is different from a sentence as well

good luck

No suspended sentence. Just a caution. (But yes very embarrassing.)

@Blondeshavemorefun it wasn’t for drink driving, I really just want to focus on the legal side of it tbh. It’s quite painful to talk about.

Then all you can be as I said is honest in any job you apply for

we all make mistakes. No one is perfect and as long as you learn from
it. Which sounds like you have so fingers crossed the job you want you will get

Enhanced DBS checks will show spent convictions (also worth noting that any custodial sentence of 2 years and over is never spent and will show on a basic one) to the best of my memory although it is a fair while since I have been involved in the process. What I do know is that when the info is fed back to a potential employer or trainer they will not be told what it is, they will get a notiification saying that the DBS "contains information". This is why it is always a good idea to disclose any past convictions and/or cautions when applying for work or a course that checks students whose studies will involve placements. Yes, it is embarrassing but please don't let it stop you doing things you want. If there was a potential concern we used to take it to a panel discusion and do a risk assessement we would look at what the offence(s) was, how long ago, was it a once off, what do the references say and anything else relevant. If it helps we did this for a student who had an extensive record but we gave her a chance to come on the course as she had not been in trouble for a long time and the offending had happened when she was going through a very difficult time She passed the training course with flying colours, had an exceptional placement and has gone on to do very well at work.

I was always very aware of the pain and embarrassment that people were feeling and hope that I handled this with tact and sensitivity. What I appreciated was honesty . We did have instances when despite explaining to people what an enhanced DBS involved they would still say they did not have a record. Of course the checking process would show this was not the case and that looks far worse. Good luck

Please apply OP. People deserve second chances and the honesty is usually enough. You made a silly mistake once, a long time ago, and may have been in circumstances where you didn't really have a choice. Give yourself a break.

To be clear, I’m not seeking advice on how best to approach or repeated insistence about honesty. It isn’t something I care to have dredged up again and would prefer to avoid situations where I have to do that than the alternative.

I realise people may want to be helpful but it isn’t helpful to post repeatedly over and over saying the same thing which doesn’t answer the question.

You always get people on these threads who insist that an enhanced DBS includes all convictions no matter how old. That used to be the case but it changed over a decade ago.

If you got a caution it should have been removed 6 years after you accepted the caution unless it was for one of the offences that is never filtered. If you were convicted, it will remain on an enhanced DBS until 11 years after you were sentenced unless it was for one of the offences that is never filtered or it resulted in a custodial sentence. Note that a suspended sentence is counted as a custodial sentence even if you never actually serve any time in prison.

If you want to say exactly what the offence was (you can PM me if you don't want to post that publicly) and confirm whether you were convicted or cautioned (your posts so far seem a little confused), I will be happy to advise whether it should still be appearing on enhanced DBS checks.

If the DBS is disclosing an offence that should be filtered, you need to complain to them.

Thanks @prh47bridge . This is what’s confusing me. Everything I’ve read has said that it’s removed after six years, and it’s been over seven (six seven, ho ho 😐)

It wasn’t a suspended sentence or conviction. I was driving whilst disqualified. Life was a bit chaotic at the time to put it mildly and I didn’t actually have a clue I’d been disqualified until I was pulled over but of course disqualified is disqualified. And so of course I was also done for driving without insurance (I was insured in the sense I was paying for it but the fact I’d been banned obviously cancelled that.)

So a bit of a shitshow really. I don’t like getting into it, it isn’t just that it’s embarrassing to explain, it also takes me back to an extremely painful period of my life that tbh I just want to forget about and thought I could.