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Volunteering Opportunities
Volunteer Application Form
Before completing this form, please read the following notes carefully
Declaration of Criminal Offences
You must give details on this form of any offences, convictions, cautions or bindovers you have or any court cases that you have pending. Under the provision of The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, however, job applicants do not have to disclose information on certain convictions after a set period of time, as they become ‘spent’. Information on when a conviction, caution or bindover is considered ‘spent’ is given in the section ‘Rehabilitation Periods’ below. For some jobs, ALL convictions must be declared and can never be considered ‘spent’. For more information, please see the section entitled ‘Exemptions’. Declaration of a criminal record does not preclude you from joining SDAC on the helpline.
If you have any queries please contact our Coordinator, Emma Bassett on 07554 991055 or email coordinator@sdac-helpline.co.uk
Rehabilitation Periods
SENTANCE | TIME ELAPSED SINCE CONVICTION |
Imprisonment or youth custody sentence of over 6 months but not more than 2½ years | 10 years * |
Imprisonment or youth custody sentence of less than 6 months | 7 years * |
Fine or other sentence for which the Act does not specify a different rehabilitation period | 5 years * |
Absolute Discharge | 6 months |
Borstal | 7 years |
Detention Centre | 3 years |
Probation order, conditional discharge or bound over | 1 year or until order expires (whichever is the longest) |
Care order or supervision order | 1 year or until order expires (whichever is the longest) |
Order for custody in a remand home, approved school order or an attendance centre order | 1 year after order expires |
A hospital order (with or without a restriction order) | 5 years, or 2 years after the order expires (whichever is the longest) |
* the above are halved if the offender was under 17 when the offence was committed.
Please note that any prison sentence GREATER than 2½ years can never become ‘spent’. It is the prison sentence imposed by the court that counts (even if it is a suspended sentence), not the time actually spent in prison.
Exemptions
The provisions relating to the non-disclosure of ‘spent’ convictions do not apply to certain jobs. If you are applying for a job in any of the following categories, you MUST disclose all details of any caution or criminal offence:
- Work involving access to children for example, school based staff, youth service etc.
- Work as a Solicitor, Chartered or Certified Accountant, Traffic Warden or Parking Attendant
- Work involving the provision of services to persons under the age of 18 which includes social services, care, leisure and recreational facilities and the provision of accommodation
- Work involving the provision of social services to person:
- over the age of 65
- suffering from serious illness or mental disability of any description
- addicted to alcohol or drugs
- who have a sensory impairment
- who are substantially and permanently disabled by illness, injury or congenital deformity
If you are offered a job in any of these categories, you may also be required to complete a further form and to authorise the council to undertake a police DBS check.