Do I need a policy on recruiting ex-offenders, and what goes in it?

England and Wales: partly covered — the duty to have the policy and the DBS Code’s own list of what it must do are established; a fuller account of what a good policy contains is not, and there is no official template to start from. Scotland: partly covered, and weaker — Disclosure Scotland’s code only recommends a policy, and no official list of its contents was found. Northern Ireland: This page sets out the position in full — AccessNI requires the policy, and official templates are published.

The one written document on the Commission’s must list

The guide says elsewhere, and correctly, that no provision requires a written safeguarding policy (Is a written safeguarding policy legally required for a charity?). The ex-offenders policy is the exception. The Charity Commission’s own must column for safeguarding names one document:

Have a policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, if the charity uses DBS information

It is conditional, and it is an England and Wales rule, tied to running a DBS check. If you do not use DBS information, it does not apply.

If you do, it is not a matter of good practice. It is a condition of using the DBS service, set by the DBS Code of Practice under section 122 of the Police Act 1997. The rest of the Commission’s list is on What must a safeguarding policy contain?

What triggers it: two official wordings

Two official sources describe the trigger, and they do not use the same words.

• GOV.UK, verbatim: “If you carry out criminal records checks, you must have a policy on employing ex-offenders and show it to any applicant who asks for it.”
• The Charity Commission, verbatim: “A charity that uses information from the DBS must also have a policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, in order to comply with the DBS Code of Practice.”

The first is wider. Read literally, a single basic check brings you in. The second tracks the Code’s own scope, which is written for registered bodies and for recipients of the DBS Update Service. This guide does not choose between them. It records two practical points instead.

First, if you run any check yourself, the wider wording covers you. Second, if you run checks through an umbrella body, you are not bound by the Code directly, but the Code extends the expectation to them. In its own words: “Clients of Registered Bodies should make this policy available to their potential or existing employees.” Either way, a charity that uses DBS checks at all should expect to be asked for its policy.

What the policy must do in England and Wales

The DBS Code of Practice binds registered bodies and recipients of Update Service information. It requires them to have a written policy on the suitability of ex-offenders, and requires:

1. telling the applicant IN ADVANCE that a Disclosure will be required
2. telling them how a conviction might bear on the selection decision
3. discuss the content of the Disclosure with the applicant BEFORE withdrawing any offer of employment

DBS’s own guidance on recruiting ex-offenders adds two points of principle. It says DBS “cannot stipulate what must be included”, so these are should, not must:

• fair treatment of applicants who have a criminal record
• no automatic discrimination on the basis of a conviction

The third Code point is the one most easily missed. If a check shows something, the applicant gets the chance to discuss it before any offer is withdrawn. A charity that withdraws first and talks second has not followed its own policy.

The policy also has to reach people. GOV.UK says you must “show it to any applicant who asks for it”. DBS’s guidance says it “should be made available to all applicants upon request”. Putting it in the application pack meets both.

Those points are not a complete model policy. A fuller account of what a good ex-offenders policy should contain beyond them has not been established. This page does not assemble one from other nations’ guidance.

There is no official template in England and Wales

The DBS used to publish a sample policy. It withdrew it on 23 October 2023 and replaced it with general guidance on recruiting ex-offenders. No current DBS template exists. Adaptations circulate from other bodies, but none is official, and none should be relied on without checking it against the points above.

That is the opposite of Northern Ireland, where official templates are live. See the Northern Ireland section.

Scotland: recommended, not required

Scotland runs a different system under different law, and on this point the duty is weaker.

Disclosure Scotland’s Code of Practice is issued under section 55 of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020. It is not issued under the Police Act 1997, whose disclosure provisions no longer apply in Scotland. Section 12.5 of the Code says, verbatim:

“It is recommended that recruiting organisations should have a written policy on the recruitment of people who have a previous conviction which includes criteria that is to be applied during their recruitment process.”

“Recommended” is the Code’s word. It is not “must”. That is a real difference in the strength of the duty, not just a different regulator’s name on the same rule.

Accredited bodies must comply with the Code as a whole. If they do not, the Scottish Ministers may impose conditions on their registration under section 55(7) of the 2020 Act, and the Code says a breach can lead to removal from the register of accredited bodies. But no provision makes this particular policy compulsory.

What spent convictions a regulated role can reveal is also governed by Scottish law. The instrument is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2013, not the 1975 Order used in England and Wales. Disclosure Scotland’s Code, Appendix B, puts it this way:

“carrying out a regulated role with children and/or adults is specifically excluded from the protections provided by the 1974 Act, by the 2013 Order. This means that the person being asked such a question about their conviction history, must treat it as though it also includes spent convictions for certain offences if: the individual was under the age of 18 at the date of conviction, and 5 years and 6 months have not passed since the date of conviction; or the individual was aged 18 or over at the date of conviction, and 11 years have not passed since the date of conviction.”

No official Scottish list of what an ex-offenders policy should contain was found. The Code names two non-statutory partnerships on fair recruitment, Scotland Works For You and Release Scotland. This guide has not read their material. Do not copy the England and Wales list across as though it were Scotland’s.

Northern Ireland: required, with official templates

Northern Ireland’s position is the clearest of the three. AccessNI’s guidance on nidirect says, verbatim: “If an employer uses AccessNI checks in the recruitment process, they must have a written policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders. Job applicants and volunteers can ask for a copy of the policy.”

Any AccessNI check brings you in, not only an enhanced one. The guidance’s principles are close to England and Wales:

• treat applicants and volunteers with convictions fairly
• consider whether a disclosed conviction is relevant to the role — it should not disqualify someone automatically
• tell applicants why a check is needed, which check, and how to apply
• tell them where to get independent advice on a certificate
• let the applicant explain anything the check reveals
• check only the successful applicant, at a sensible point in the process

nidirect hosts official sample policies, in PDF and Word, updated in October 2025: one for employers generally and one for responsible bodies. A Northern Ireland charity can start from one of those.

One rule has no equivalent recorded anywhere else in this guide. In the guidance’s verbatim words: “Employers should not keep a certificate for longer than six months. If the employer needs to keep the copy longer than six months, they must tell AccessNI.”

AccessNI’s Code of Practice itself was not read. The Northern Ireland points in this section come from nidirect’s own guidance pages.

Write it, adopt it, give it out

1. Northern Ireland: start from the nidirect sample policy. England and Wales: start from the Code and guidance points above. Scotland: decide whether to have one; the Code recommends it.
2. Say when you will talk to an applicant about what a check shows, and that it will be before any offer is withdrawn.
3. Tell applicants in advance that a check will be needed, in the advert or application pack.
4. Adopt it at a minuted board meeting.
5. Give it out at the start of every recruitment that involves a check, and to anyone who asks.

This is the last of the safeguarding steps. The hub then turns to paid staff, starting with what it actually costs to employ someone.

Common mistake: running checks without the policy

The policy is thought of as something for large employers, and very few small charities that run checks have one. In England and Wales, GOV.UK’s wording is that if you carry out criminal records checks, you must have one. On that wording, one basic check brings you in. In Northern Ireland, any AccessNI check does the same.

Common mistake: treating it as good practice rather than a condition of using the DBS service

It reads like a diversity aspiration. In England and Wales it is a condition of using the DBS service. The condition flows from the DBS Code of Practice under section 122 of the Police Act 1997. The Commission’s guidance says the same. If a registered body does not comply with the Code, the DBS may refuse to issue a certificate, or suspend or cancel its registration. A charity using an umbrella body is not bound by the Code directly, but the Code expects the umbrella body’s clients to make the policy available.

Common mistake: not telling applicants in advance about the check

The policy gets written and filed, and applicants first hear of the check at the offer stage. In England and Wales, the DBS Code of Practice requires registered bodies to tell applicants in advance that a check will be required. They must also say how a criminal record could affect the selection process. DBS’s guidance suggests a statement to that effect in every application form.

Worked example

Tollgate Youth CIO ran its first DBS check last month, for a new session leader. It has no ex-offenders policy.

The duty already exists. On GOV.UK’s wording, running the check was enough.

The chair drafts a one-page policy covering the Code’s three points and the guidance’s two. The main line says that if a check shows a conviction, Tollgate will talk to the person about it before making any decision. It also says Tollgate will look at whether the conviction is relevant to the role. The board adopts it at its next meeting.

From then on, the policy goes into the pack for every role that needs a check. The advert carries a line saying a check will be required. The session leader already checked is sent a copy too. There is no official template to start from in England, so Tollgate works from the Code, not from a download.