The Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002

Made: 7th February 2002

Laid before Parliament: 7th February 2002

Coming into force: 1st March 2002

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the provisions which are specified in Schedule 1 to these Regulations, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on 1st March 2002.

• (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

Interpretation

2

In these Regulations—

• “the Act” means the Police Act 1997 ;

• “adult” means a person who has attained the age of 18;

• “area committee” has the same meaning as in section 18 of the Local Government Act 2000;

• “charity” and “charity trustee” have the same meanings as in the Charities Act 2011;

• “childcare” has the meaning given by section 18 of the Childcare Act 2006;

• “childcare premises” means any premises on which childcare is provided;

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

• “child minding” for the purposes of regulation 5A(g) has the meaning given by section 19(2) of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010;

• “day care” for the purposes of regulation 5A(g) has the meaning given by section 19(3) of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010;

• “executive”, in relation to a local authority, has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the Local Government Act 2000;

• “local authority” has the same meaning as in the Education Act 1996;

• “registered health care professional” has the same meaning as “health care professional” in section 39(1) of the Social Security Act 1998;

• “reprimand” means a reprimand given to a child or young person in accordance with section 65 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ;

• “social services functions”—in relation to a local authority in England, has the same meaning as in the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, andin relation to a local authority in Wales, has the same meaning as in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014;

• “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;

• “volunteer” means a person engaged in an activity which involves spending time, unpaid (except for travel and other approved out-of-pocket expenses), doing something which aims to benefit some third party other than or in addition to a close relative;

• “warning” means a warning given to a child or young person in accordance with section 65 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Application form

3

The form set out in Schedule 2 to these Regulations, or a form to the like effect, is hereby prescribed for the purposes of sections 113(1)(a) (criminal record certificate), 114(1)(a) (criminal record certificate: Crown employment), 115(1)(a) (enhanced criminal record certificate) and 116(1)(a) (enhanced criminal record certificate: judicial appointment and Crown employment) of the Act.

Fees for criminal record certificates and enhanced criminal record certificates

4

• (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the fee payable in relation to an application for the issue of a criminal record certificate or an enhanced criminal record certificate is prescribed as—

• (a) £21.50 in the case of a criminal record certificate;

• (b) £49.50 in the case of an enhanced criminal record certificate, and

• (c) where an urgent preliminary response is sought under section 113E(3)(b) of the Act, an additional £6 in each case.

• (2) No fee is payable in relation to an application made by a volunteer.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Relevant matters: prescribed details

5

The following details of a relevant matter for the purposes of sections 113(3)(a) and 115(6)(a)(i) of the Act (including those provisions as applied by sections 114(3) and 116(3), respectively) are hereby prescribed—

• (a) in the case of a conviction within the meaning of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 , including a spent conviction—

• (i) the date of conviction;

• (ii) the convicting court;

• (iii) the offence; and

• (iv) the method of disposal for the offence including details of any order made under Part 2 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 ,

• (b) in the case of a caution, reprimand or warning—

• (i) the date of caution, reprimand or warning;

• (ii) the place where the caution, reprimand or warning was issued; and

• (iii) the offence which the person issued with a caution, reprimand or warning had admitted.

List kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999: prescribed details

6

• (1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, the fees payable in relation to an application for a certificate to be subject to up-date arrangements under section 116A of the Act are prescribed as—

• (a) £16 in the case of a fee as mentioned in section 116A(4)(b) of the Act;

• (b) £16 in the case of a fee as mentioned in section 116A(5)(b) of the Act.

• (2) No fee is payable in relation to—

• (a) an application made by a volunteer;

• (b) an application for a criminal conviction certificate, a criminal record certificate or an enhanced criminal record certificate to be subject to up-date arrangements where the person making the request already holds any such a certificate that is subject to up-date arrangements.

List kept for the purposes of regulations made under subsection (6) of section 218 of the Education Reform Act 1988: prescribed detailsDirections made under section 142 of the Education Act 2002: prescribed details

7

A person acting as a registered person in relation to an application of a type described in section 120AD(1)(c) of the Act may only be issued with a copy of a criminal record certificate or (as the case may be) enhanced criminal record certificate issued further to that application where—

• (a) a request is made not less than 28 days from the date of issue of the certificate;

• (b) a request is made not more than 3 months from the date of issue of the certificate or, where a dispute is raised under section 117 or section 117A of the Act in respect of that certificate, the conclusion of that dispute;

• (c) the certificate is not the subject of a pending review under section 117 of the Act (disputes about accuracy of certificates);

• (d) the certificate is not the subject of a pending review under section 117A of the Act (other disputes about section 113B(4) information);

• (e) any statement made by the registered person in respect of the application for the certificate described in section 120AD(1)(a) continues to apply.

List kept by the Secretary of State or the National Assembly for Wales of persons disqualified under section 470 or 471 of the Education Act 1996: prescribed details

8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Central records: prescribed details

9

Information in any form relating to convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings on a names database held by the Secretary of State for the use of constables is prescribed as “central records” for the purposes of sections 112(3) and 113A(6) of the Police Act 1997 (including section 113A(6) as applied by sections 114(3) and 116(3)).

Enhanced criminal record certificates: relevant police forces

10

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Evidence of identity: fingerprinting

11

• (1) Where the Disclosure and Barring Service requires an application under Part V of the Act to be supported by evidence of identity in the form of fingerprints then the place at which they are to be taken is to be determined in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3) below and he shall notify the applicant—

• (a) of his requirement; and

• (b) of the fact that any fingerprints taken from the applicant and provided to the Disclosure and Barring Service in pursuance of the requirement may be the subject of a speculative search.

• (2) Any applicant in receipt of such notification shall notify the Disclosure and Barring Service of whether he wishes to proceed with his application and, if so, notify the Disclosure and Barring Service —

• (a) that he consents to the taking of his fingerprints; and

• (b) either—

• (i) that he proposes to attend at a police station (“the specified police station”) for the purpose of having his fingerprints taken, or

• (ii) that he proposes to have his fingerprints taken by the registered person countersigning or acting as the registered person in relation to his application under this Part.

• (2A) But a person can only have his fingerprints taken under paragraph (2)(b)(ii) with the consent of the Disclosure and Barring Service.

• (3) The Disclosure and Barring Service may require the police officer in charge of the specified police station, or any other police station he reasonably determines, to take the applicant’s fingerprints at the specified station at such reasonable time as the officer may direct and notify to the applicant.

• (4) Fingerprints taken in connection with an application under Part V of the Act must be destroyed as soon as is practicable after the identity of the applicant is established to the satisfaction of the Disclosure and Barring Service.

• (5) If fingerprints are destroyed—

• (a) any copies of the fingerprints shall also be destroyed; and

• (b) any chief officer of police controlling access to computer data relating to the fingerprints shall make access to the data impossible, as soon as it is practicable to do so.

• (6) Any applicant who asks to be allowed to witness the destruction of his fingerprints or copies of them shall have a right to witness it.

• (7) If—

• (a) paragraph (5)(b) above falls to be complied with; and

• (b) the applicant to whose fingerprints the data relates asks for a certificate that it has been complied with,

such a certificate shall be issued to him, not later than the end of the period of three months beginning with the day on which he asks for it, by the responsible chief officer of police or a person authorised by him or on his behalf for the purposes of this regulation.

• (8) In the case of an applicant under the age of 18 years the consent of the applicant’s parent or guardian to the taking of the applicant’s fingerprints is also required.

• (9) In this regulation—

• “speculative search” has the same meaning as in Part V of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ; and

• “responsible chief officer of police” means the chief officer of police in whose area the computer data were put on to the computer.

Fees payable to police authorities for information provided to the Secretary of State

12

• (1) The following purpose is specified for the purposes of subsection (6) (e) and (f) of section 124 of the Act (exceptions to prohibition of disclosure beyond a registered body), namely disclosure by an employment agency or an employment business, whether or not in response to an exempted question, for the purpose of consideration,

• (a) by an educational institution, within the meaning given by section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, or

• (aa) by an alternative provision Academy that does not fall within sub-paragraph(a),

• (b) by an institution within the further education sector , within the meaning given by section 91(3) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, or

• (c) by a 16 to 19 Academy,

of a person’s suitability for a position at that institution or Academy.

• (2) In paragraph (1) above the references to an employment agency and an employment business are references to such an agency or business within the meanings given by section 13 of the Employment Agencies Act 1973.

SCHEDULE 1 — Enabling Powers

These Regulations are made under the following provisions of the Police Act 1997—

• (a) sections 113(1)(b); 114(1)(b); 115(1)(b) and (10); 116(1)(b); 118(3) and 125(5); and

• (b) having regard to the meaning of “prescribed” in sections 113(1)(a), (3)(a), (3A)(b) and (5); 114(1)(a); 115(1)(a), (6)(a)(i) and (6A)(b); 116(1)(a); 118(2)(a) and 119(3).

SCHEDULE 2

SCHEDULE 3 — Fees payable to police authorities

Police Force	Fee per request
Avon & Somerset	£6.09
Bedfordshire	£5.62
Cambridgeshire	£5.36
Cheshire	£6.45
City of London	£3.99
Cleveland	£6.68
Cumbria	£6.17
Derbyshire	£5.79
Devon & Cornwall	£4.27
Dorset	£3.65
Durham	£3.58
Dyfed-Powys	£2.80
Essex	£6.98
Gloucestershire	£1.09
Greater Manchester	£4.11
Gwent	£6.81
Hampshire	£1.13
Hertfordshire	£8.97
Humberside	£4.61
Kent	£7.30
Lancashire	£3.63
Leicestershire	£3.66
Lincolnshire	£1.51
Merseyside	£3.03
Metropolitan	£8.93
Norfolk	£5.14
North Wales	£8.35
North Yorkshire	£3.35
Northamptonshire	£7.15
Northumbria	£2.18
Nottinghamshire	£3.31
South Wales	£2.48
South Yorkshire	£0.94
Staffordshire	£3.38
Suffolk	£3.05
Surrey	£4.73
Sussex	£1.82
Thames Valley	£2.71
Warwickshire	£2.64
West Mercia	£3.10
West Midlands	£1.85
West Yorkshire	£2.59
Wiltshire	£4.14
Police Service of Northern Ireland	£6.73
Central Scotland	£6.06
Dumfries & Galloway	£6.06
Fife	£6.06
Grampian	£6.06
Lothian & Borders	£6.06
Northern	£6.06
Strathclyde	£6.06
Tayside	£6.06

Signed

Minister of State

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1997 c. 50.

[^f00002]: 1998 c. 37.

[^f00003]: 1974 c. 53.

[^f00004]: 2000 c. 43.

[^f00005]: 1999 c. 14.

[^f00006]: Sections 113(3A) and 115(6A) were inserted by section 8(1), (2) of the Protection of Children Act 1999 respectively. Section 113(3A) was amended by sections 102(1), 104(1), (2)(a), 116 and Schedule 4, paragraph 25(1) of the Care Standards Act 2000 (c. 14). Section 115(6A) was amended by sections 102(2), 104(1), (3)(b), 116 and Schedule 4, paragraph 25(b) of the Care Standards Act 2000.

[^f00007]: Section 12 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 was amended by section 74 and Schedule 7, Part II, paragraphs 154 and 158 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 (c. 43).

[^f00008]: 1988 c. 40.

[^f00009]: 1996 c. 56.

[^f00010]: 1984 c. 60.

These Regulations are made under the following provisions of the Police Act 1997—

• (a) sections 113(1)(b); 114(1)(b); 115(1)(b) and (10); 116(1)(b); 118(3) and 125(5); and

• (b) having regard to the meaning of “prescribed” in sections 113(1)(a), (3)(a), (3A)(b) and (5); 114(1)(a); 115(1)(a), (6)(a)(i) and (6A)(b); 116(1)(a); 118(2)(a) and 119(3).

Editorial notes