http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21942544

"Thousands of job applicants will no longer have to face their criminal past being disclosed to employers, under changes announced by the Home Office.

Old and minor cautions and convictions will be filtered out of the information revealed in applications for jobs in England and Wales.

It follows a Court of Appeal ruling in January that blanket checks did not comply with human rights laws.

All serious violent and sexual offences will continue to be disclosed.

The Home Office said the system would be implemented within weeks, following Parliamentary scrutiny.

In 2011-12, more than four million people applied for a criminal records check.

The changes follow a Court of Appeal hearing concerning a job applicant, known as T, who had to disclose police cautions he had received at the age of 11 over two stolen bicycles when he applied for a part-time job at a football club.

Tougher criminal checks were brought in after mistakes were made with child murderer Ian Huntley

The Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, said the disclosure of old convictions and cautions was designed to protect children and vulnerable adults.

However, he said, "requiring the disclosure of all convictions and cautions relating to recordable offences is disproportionate to that legitimate aim".

I had a criminal conviction for a minor fraud offence 25 years ago.

Over that time I have had good jobs with very good companies up until 13 years ago when I started a family. Now that I want to get into work

again, I am at my wits end worrying that if I do apply for a job that requires an Enhanced Crb or Dbs check is my past going to come up?

Also I have noticed schools asking for these Checks too if a parent wants to go and help in their child's school.

I had a standard check on myself recently which was clear but am worried about the Enhanced one.

Can anyone put my mind at rest?

The only way that you can put your mind at rest currently is to just go ahead and see what comes back, but mention to any prospective employer that you have a very minor conviction many years ago which MIGHT show.

I would say that if a basic check is clear, then this will also be the case for an Enhanced check, as the information disclosed on a standard check is from the Criminal records database, and for the ECRB it is the same PLUS information drawn from local police databases. In that case the CR check will be the same so would surely also be clear unless local databases also hold information relating to other matters which were reported, investigated but which did not proceed to a conviction, warning etc.

Under the new DBS guidelines your conviction should not now be disclosed (or at least 'within a few weeks' when they come into force), so the only other factor to think about is whether there have been other matters which might remain on local records which did not go to court. Even there, disclosure would be at the discretion of the police as to whether they were deemed relevant to the purpose of the ECRB.

Anybody working with children, even in an informal setting is normally required to undergo an Enhanced check.

I had a criminal conviction for a minor fraud offence 25 years ago.

 

Over that time I have had good jobs with very good companies up until 13 years ago when I started a family. Now that I want to get into work

again, I am at my wits end worrying that if I do apply for a job that requires an Enhanced Crb or Dbs check is my past going to come up?

 

Also I have noticed schools asking for these Checks too if a parent wants to go and help in their child's school.

I had a standard check on myself recently which was clear but am worried about the Enhanced one.

 

Can anyone put my mind at rest?

The offences disclosed should be taken in context, I have had many CRB checks which all show up offences such as theft from 30yrs ago. No employer to date has allowed the offences to sway their opinion of me and that includes working with children. If you apply for the job the check should not be used as part of the selection process its usually kept confidential until after you get the job.