Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2003 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

(2) This Order extends to England and Wales only.

Amendment of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975

2.  The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975(2) is amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.

Amendment of article 2

3.  In article 2(1), insert in the appropriate alphabetical positions—

Amendment of article 3

4.  In article 3(a)(ii), for the words “or 13”, substitute “, 13, 20 or 21”.

5.  After article 3(h), add—

“(i)any question asked by or on behalf of the Council for the purpose of determining whether or not to grant an application for registration under Part IV of the Care Standards Act 2000, 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.”.

Amendment of article 4

6.  In article 4(b), for the words “or 13”, substitute “, 13, 20 or 21”.

7.  After article 4(j), add—

“(k)any decision by the Council to refuse to grant an application for registration under Part IV of the Care Standards Act 2000 or to suspend, remove or refuse to restore a person’s registration under that Part;

(l)any decision to refuse to grant a taxi driver licence, to grant such a licence subject to conditions or to suspend, revoke or refuse to renew such a licence;

(m)any decision by the Security Industry Authority to refuse to grant a licence under section 8 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001(8), to grant such a licence subject to conditions, to modify such a licence (including any of the conditions of that licence) or to revoke such a licence.”.

Amendment of Schedule 1

8.  In Part II of Schedule 1, after paragraph 19 add—

“20.  Any employment or other work which is normally carried out in premises approved under section 9 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000(9).

21.  Any employment or other work which is normally carried out in a hospital used only for the provision of high security psychiatric services.”.

9.  In Part III of Schedule 1, delete paragraph 9.

10.  In Part IV of Schedule 1—

(a)insert, in the appropriate alphabetical position—

• ““high security psychiatric services” has the meaning given by section 4 of the National Health Service Act 1977(10);”;

(b)delete the definition of “taxi driver”.

Amendment of Schedule 2

11.  After paragraph 3 of Schedule 2, add—

“4.  Taxi driver licences.

5.  Licences granted under section 8 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.”.

Amendment of Schedule 3

12.  For paragraph 16 of Schedule 3, substitute: “Proceedings relating to a taxi driver licence.”.

13.  After paragraph 17 of Schedule 3, add—

“18.  Proceedings relating to registration under Part IV of the Care Standards Act 2000.

19.  Proceedings under section 11 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (“the 1975 Order”).

Article 3 of the 1975 Order provides exceptions to section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (“the Act”) (questions which relate to spent convictions). This Order provides new exceptions for questions asked in order to determine whether or not a person should be registered under Part IV of the Care Standards Act 2000 (article 5), questions asked in order to assess a person’s suitability to work in certain bail hostels and probation hostels and in hospitals used only for the provision of high security psychiatric services (article 8) and questions asked in order to assess the suitability of a person to hold a licence under section 8 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (article 11).

Article 4 of the 1975 Order provides exceptions to section 4(3)(b) of the Act (spent convictions not to be a proper ground for dismissal or for prejudicing a person in any occupation or employment). This Order provides new exceptions relating to registration under Part IV of the Care Standards Act 2000 and licences under section 8 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (article 7).

Article 5 of the 1975 Order provides exceptions to section 4(1) of the Act (evidence of spent convictions inadmissible in proceedings). This Order provides new exceptions for proceedings relating to registration under Part IV of the Care Standards Act 2000 and for proceedings under section 11 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (article 13).

This Order re-enacts, subject to amendments, the existing provisions in the 1975 Order relating to taxi driver licences. The principal amendment is that the new provisions, in contrast to the existing ones, cover licences granted under section 13 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998.