COVID-19 and DBS Checks: Will Lockdown Offences Show up on a DBS Check?
The Metropolitan Police has announced today, they will be issuing the first fines in relation to parties at 10 Downing Street during lockdown. Although they have not announced who the fines relate to, they have confirmed that if the Prime Minister is issued a fine it will be shared with the public.
According to the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), 124,626 fixed penalty notices were issued in England and Wales between March 2020 and February 27th, 2022. These fines were issued in relation to breaches of emergency coronavirus laws introduced to help combat the pandemic.
Image Source: Metropolitan Police
We’re often asked whether or not fines issued in relation to COVID-19 rule breaches will appear on a DBS Check. Here we will try to clarify the issue.
DBS Checks and COVID-19
DBS Checks are criminal record checks conducted by the Disclosure and Barring Service. Depending on the level of check conducted they can reveal a range of different information, including:
Spent or unspent convictions
Cautions
Warnings
Reprimands
An optional search of the Child’s or Adult’s Barred List.
The Enhanced level of DBS Check can also include notes from local police forces which they consider to be relevant to the employer conducting the check.
Most offences committed in relation to COVID-19 rules resulted in Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) being issued. This has made people worry about whether they will show up on their record if a DBS Check is carried out.
Fixed Penalty Notices and DBS Checks.
The vast majority of offences introduced under COVID-19 restrictions are classed as ‘non-recordable’ summary offences. This means police can only issue a fine and not any kind of custodial sentence.
FPNs are generally not recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC), but the issuing police force will usually keep a record of anyone to who they have issued fines. If the fine is paid on time then that is likely to be the end of the matter.
However, if you do not pay the fine, you could be charged with a criminal offence. Failure to pay a fixed penalty notice within 28 days means the police or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) would then have 6 months in which to charge you with a breach of the coronavirus regulations.
Convictions
As failure to pay a fine is a criminal offence, this could potentially lead to prosecution. If this led to a successful conviction, then this information would be revealed on any future DBS Check carried out by an employer.
A Freedom of Information request from charity Transform Justice discovered that over 3000 recordable offences were issued between March and December 2020. This means that an offence will be recorded on someone's criminal record and ultimately revealed on any DBS Check carried out.
A press release issued by the NPCC revealed that over 50,000 FPNs issued in relation to COVID-19 rule breaches have not been paid. This could lead to thousands more people being convicted of lockdown related rule-breaking.
Campaign groups are appealing against many of the FPNs that were issued throughout the pandemic. Opposition has grown stronger in light of the clear breaches made by No 10 of their own rules.