The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975

Whereas a draft of this Order has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me by sections 4(4) and 7(4) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, I hereby make the following Order:—

1

This Order may be cited as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and shall come into operation on 1st July 1975.

2

• (1) In this Order, except where the context otherwise requires—

• “the 2000 Act” means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

• “the 2006 Act” means the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

• “the 2016 Act” means the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016;

• “the Act” means the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974;

• “administration of justice offence” means—the offence of perverting the course of justice,any offence under section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (intimidation etc. of witnesses, jurors and others),an offence under section 1, 2, 6 or 7 of the Perjury Act 1911 (perjury),or any offence committed under the law of any part of the United Kingdom (other than England or Wales) or of any other country where the conduct which constitutes the offence would, if it all took place in England or Wales, constitute one or more of the offences specified by paragraph (a) to (c);

• “adoption agency” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002;

• “adoption service”—in relation to England, means the discharge by a local authority in England of relevant adoption functions within the meaning of section 43(3)(a) of the Care Standards Act 2000, andin relation to Wales, means the discharge by a local authority in Wales of functions under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 of making or participating in arrangements for the adoption of children or the provision of adoption support services as defined in section 2(6) of that Act;

• “adoption support agency” has the meaning given by section 8 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002;

• “associate”, in relation to a person (“A”), means someone who is a controller, director or manager of A or, where A is a partnership, any partner of A;

• “authorised payment institution” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Payment Services Regulations 2017;

• “childminder agency” has the meaning given in section 98(1) of the Childcare Act 2006;

• ...

• “child minding” means— child minding within the meaning of section 79A of the Children Act 1989 section 19 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010; and early years childminding within the meaning of section 96(4) of the Childcare Act 2006, or later years childminding within the meaning of section 96(8) of that Act;

• “children's home”— in relation to England, has the meaning given by section 1 of the Care Standards Act 2000; and in relation to Wales, means premises at which— a care home service is provided wholly or mainly to persons under the age of 18, ora secure accommodation service is provided,and in this paragraph “care home service” and “secure accommodation service” have the meaning given in Part 1 of the 2016 Act;

• “collective investment scheme” has the meaning given by section 235 of the 2000 Act;

• ...

• ...

• ...

• “controller” has the meaning given by section 422 of the 2000 Act;

• ...

• “Council of Lloyd's” means the council constituted by section 3 of Lloyd’s Act 1982;

• “day care” means— day care for which registration is required by section 79D(5) of the Children Act 1989 section 23(1) of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010; and early years provision within the meaning of section 96(2) of the Childcare Act 2006 (other than early years childminding), or later years provision within the meaning of section 96(6) of that Act (other than later years childminding), for which registration is required, or permitted, under Part 3 of that Act;

• “day care premises” means any premises on which day care is provided, but does not include any part of the premises where children are not looked after;

• “depositary”, in relation to an authorised contractual scheme, has the meaning given in section 237(2) of the 2000 Act;

• ...

• ...

• “director” has the meaning given by section 417 of the 2000 Act;

• “electronic money institution” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Electronic Money Regulations 2011;

• “the FCA” means the Financial Conduct Authority;

• “fostering agency”—in relation to England, has the meaning given by section 4(4) of the Care Standards Act 2000, andin relation to Wales, means a provider of a fostering service within the meaning of paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act;

• “fostering service” means—in relation to England, the discharge by a local authority in England of relevant fostering functions within the meaning of section 43(3)(b)(i) of the Care Standards Act 2000, andin relation to Wales, the discharge by a local authority in Wales of functions under section 81 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (in connection with placements with local authority foster parents) or regulations made under or by virtue of any of sections 87, 92(1)(a), (b), (d) or 93 of that Act;

• “key worker” means—any individual who is likely, in the course of exercising the duties of that individual’s office or employment, to play a significant role in the decision making process of the FCA, the PRA or the Bank of England in relation to the exercise of its public functions (within the meaning of section 349(5) of the 2000 Act); orany individual who is likely, in the course of exercising the duties of that individual’s office or employment, to support directly an individual mentioned in paragraph (a);

• “manager” has the meaning given by section 423 of the 2000 Act;

• “open-ended investment company” has the meaning given by section 236 of the 2000 Act

• “operator”, in relation to an authorised contractual scheme, has the meaning given in section 237(2) of the 2000 Act;

• “Part 4A permission” has the meaning given by section 55A(5) of the 2000 Act;

• “payment services” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Payment Services Regulations 2017;

• “protected caution” means a caution of the kind described in article 2A(1);

• “protected conviction” means a conviction of the kind described in article 2A(2);

• “the PRA” means the Prudential Regulation Authority;

• “recognised clearing house” means a recognised clearing house as defined in section 285 of the 2000 Act;

• “recognised CSD” has the meaning given by section 285(1)(e) of the 2000 Act;

• “registered account information service provider” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Payment Services Regulations 2017;

• “relevant collective investment scheme” means a collective investment scheme which is recognised under section 271A (schemes authorised in approved countries) or section ... 272 (individually recognised overseas schemes) of the 2000 Act;

• “residential family centre”— in relation to England, has the meaning given by section 4(2) of the Care Standards Act 2000; andin relation to Wales, means a place at which a residential family centre service, within the meaning of Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, is provided;

• “small payment institution” has the meaning given by regulation 2(1) of the Payment Services Regulations 2017;

• ...

• “taxi driver licence” means a licence granted under— section 46 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847; section 8 of the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869;section 9 of the Plymouth City Council Act 1975;section 51 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976; orsection 13 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998;

• “trustee”, in relation to a unit trust scheme, has the meaning given by section 237 of the 2000 Act;

• ...

• ...

• “UK recognised investment exchange” means an investment exchange in relation to which a recognition order under section 290 of the 2000 Act, otherwise than by virtue of section 292(2) of that Act (overseas investment exchanges), is in force;

• “voluntary adoption agency”—in relation to England, has the meaning given by section 4(7) of the Care Standards Act 2000, andin relation to Wales, means a provider of an adoption service within the meaning of paragraph 4(a) of Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act;

• “work” includes—work of any kind, whether paid or unpaid, and whether under a contract of service or apprenticeship, under a contract for services, or otherwise than under a contract; andan office established by or by virtue of an enactment;

• “work with children” means work of the kind described in paragraph 14 , 14A, 14B or 14C of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to this Order;

• the expressions ... “building society” and “officer” have the meanings respectively given to them by section 119(1) of the Building Societies Act 1986.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2ZA) In this Order references to the Bank of England do not include the Bank acting in its capacity as the Prudential Regulation Authority.

• (2A) Nothing in this Order applies in relation to a conviction for a service offence which is not a recordable service offence; and for this purpose—

• (a) “service offence” means an offence which is a service offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 or an SDA offence within the meaning of the Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009;

• (b) “recordable service offence” means an offence which is a recordable service offence within the meaning of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Armed Forces) Order 2009.

• (3) Part IV of Schedule 1 to this Order shall have effect for the interpretation of expressions used in that Schedule.

• (4) In this Order a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, extended or applied by or under any other enactment.

• (4A) In this Order any reference to a conviction shall where relevant include a reference to a caution, and any reference to spent convictions shall be construed accordingly.

• (5) The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply to the interpretation of this Order as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

3

• (1) Subject to paragraph (2), neither section 4(2) of, nor paragraph 3(3) of Schedule 2 to, the Act shall apply in relation to—

• (a) any question asked by or on behalf of any person, in the course of the duties of his office or employment, in order to assess the suitability—

• (i) of the person to whom the question relates for admission to any of the professions specified in Part I of Schedule 1 to this Order; or

• (ii) of the person to whom the question relates for any office or employment specified in Part II of the said Schedule 1 apart from one specified in paragraph 1, 6, 16, 17, 18, 18A, 31, 32, 35 or 36 or for any other work specified in paragraph 12A, 13, 13A, 14, 14A, 14AA, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F, 20, 21, ... ... 38, 40 or 43 of Part II of the said Schedule 1; or

• (iii) of the person to whom the question relates or of any other person to pursue any occupation specified in Part III of the said Schedule 1 apart from one specified in paragraph 1 or 8 or to pursue it subject to a particular condition or restriction; or

• (iv) of the person to whom the question relates or of any other person to hold a licence, certificate or permit of a kind specified in Schedule 2 to this Order apart from one specified in paragraph 1, 3 or 6 or to hold it subject to a particular condition or restriction, or

• (v) of an individual to provide accommodation or to continue to provide accommodation to a person who has applied for or been granted permission to enter into or to stay in the United Kingdom in accordance with Appendix Ukraine Scheme of the Immigration Rules, where the question relates to—

• (aa) the individual whose suitability is being assessed, or

• (bb) any other individual over the age of 16 years who resides in the same household as the individual whose suitability is being assessed,

where the person questioned is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions are to be disclosed;

• (aa) any question asked by or on behalf of any person, in the course of the duties of his work, in order to assess the suitability of a person to work with children, where—

• (i) the question relates to the person whose suitability is being assessed;

• (ii) the person whose suitability is being assessed lives on the premises where his work with children would normally take place and the question relates to a person living in the same household as him;

• (iii) the person whose suitability is being assessed lives on the premises where his work with children would normally take place and the question relates to a person who regularly works on those premises at a time when the work with children usually takes place; or

• (iv) the work for which the person’s suitability is being assessed is child minding which would normally take place on premises other than premises where that person lives and the question relates to a person who lives on those other premises or to a person who regularly works on them at a time when the child minding takes place,

and where the person to whom the question relates is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions are to be disclosed;

• (ab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (e) any question asked by or on behalf of any person in the course of his duties as a person employed by an adoption agency for the purpose of assessing the suitability of any person to adopt children in general or a child in particular where—

• (i) the question relates to the person whose suitability is being assessed; or

• (ii) the question relates to a person over the age of 18 living in the same household as the person whose suitability is being assessed,

and where the person to whom the question relates is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions are to be disclosed;

• (ea) any question asked by or on behalf of any person in the course of his duties as a person employed by a local authority in England or Wales for the purpose of preparing a report for the court under section 14A(8) of the Children Act 1989 regarding the suitability of any person to be a special guardian, where—

• (i) the question relates to the person whose suitability is being assessed; or

• (ii) the question relates to a person over the age of 18 living in the same household as the person whose suitability is being assessed;

and where the person to whom the question relates is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions are to be disclosed;

• (f) any question asked by or on behalf of any person, in the course of the duties of his work, in order to assess the suitability of a person to provide day care where—

• (i) the question relates to the person whose suitability is being assessed; or

• (ii) the question relates to a person who lives on the premises which are or are proposed to be day care premises,

and where the person to whom the question relates is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions are to be disclosed;

• (fa) any question asked by or on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills in assessing a person’s suitability for registration as a childminder agency under Part 3 of the Childcare Act 2006, where the person to whom the question relates is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions are to be disclosed;

• (g) any question asked by, or on behalf of, the person listed in the second column of any entry in the table below to the extent that it relates to a conviction ... (or any circumstances ancillary to ... a conviction) of any individual, but only if -

• (i) the person questioned is informed at the time the question is asked that, by virtue of this Order, spent convictions ... are to be disclosed; and

• (ii) the question is asked in order to assess the suitability of the individual to whom the question relates to have the status specified in the first column of that entry;