Criminal Records Bill to receive its second reading in House of Lords tomorrow

Lord Ramsbotham’s Private Members’ Bill on amending the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 will have its Second Reading in the House of Lords tomorrow, Friday 23rd February.

The Bill, which would shorten the rehabilitation periods that apply under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA), proposes a number of changes. One of the most significant elements is that sentences of over 4 years in prison would become spent 4 years after the end of the full sentence. Currently, they can never become spent.

Private Members’ Bills rarely succeed unless they have the backing of government.

Lord Ramsbotham, who is Unlock’s President, had a similar Bill that reached Second Reading in January 2017 and despite widespread support in the House, the Government responded by saying that they “do not consider that the proposals in the Bill are appropriate”.

Watch it on Parliament TV – the session starts at 10am and we expect them to get to this Bill around midday.

We’ll be tweeting what happens during the Second Reading using the hashtag #CriminalRecordsBill

More information

1. You can follow the progress of the Bill on the Parliament website.
2. You can find out more information about our work to get further reform to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
3. There is practical information on how the law currently operates on our information site.