Will Drink Driving Show on a DBS Check?
Whether a drink driving conviction appears on a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check depends on the level of check being carried out and whether the conviction is spent. Drink driving is a recordable offence held on the Police National Computer, which means it can potentially appear on all levels of DBS check.
A basic DBS check only reveals unspent convictions. A standard or enhanced DBS check can reveal both spent and unspent convictions, subject to filtering rules introduced in 2013. The type of check your employer requests depends on the nature of the role you are applying for.
Understanding which level of check applies to your role is essential for knowing whether you need to disclose a drink driving conviction. Many applicants are unnecessarily anxious about convictions that will not in fact appear on the check relevant to their position.
Basic vs Standard vs Enhanced DBS Checks
Basic Check
A basic DBS check is the lowest level of check and is available for any role. It only reveals unspent convictions as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Once your drink driving conviction is spent, it will not appear on a basic DBS check.
For a drink driving conviction resulting in a fine, the conviction typically becomes spent after 1 year. This means a basic DBS check carried out more than 1 year after conviction will not reveal the offence.
Standard Check
A standard DBS check is used for certain regulated roles and reveals both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer. However, filtering rules may remove eligible convictions from the certificate.
Standard checks are required for roles such as accountants, lawyers and security industry workers. If your drink driving conviction is eligible for filtering, it will not appear on a standard DBS check even though it is technically within scope.
Enhanced Check
An enhanced DBS check includes everything on a standard check plus any relevant information held by the local police force. This is the most thorough level of check and is required for roles involving work with children or vulnerable adults.
Chief police officers have discretion to disclose additional information on an enhanced check if they believe it is relevant to the role. A drink driving conviction could therefore appear on an enhanced check even if it would be filtered from a standard check, though this is rare for a single drink driving offence.
How Long Does Drink Driving Appear on a DBS?
On a basic DBS check, a drink driving conviction appears only until it becomes spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. For a fine, this is 1 year from the date of conviction. For a community order, it is 1 year from when the order ends.
On standard and enhanced DBS checks, the conviction may appear for longer due to the inclusion of spent convictions. However, the DBS filtering rules can remove the conviction from the certificate after the applicable filtering period has passed.
For an adult conviction resulting in a non-custodial sentence such as a fine, the filtering period is 11 years from the date of conviction. After this period, the conviction will be removed from standard and enhanced DBS certificates provided there are no other offences on your record that prevent filtering.
Filtering Rules for Drink Driving Convictions
The DBS filtering rules were introduced in 2013 and updated in November 2020. Under these rules, certain old and minor convictions are automatically removed from standard and enhanced DBS certificates. A single drink driving conviction resulting in a fine is eligible for filtering.
For adults, an eligible conviction is filtered after 11 years from the date of conviction. For those aged under 18 at the time of conviction, the filtering period is 5.5 years. The conviction must have resulted in a non-custodial sentence, and you must have no other convictions on your record for the filtering rules to apply.
If you received a custodial sentence for drink driving, or if you have other convictions on your record, the filtering rules will not apply and the conviction will continue to appear on standard and enhanced DBS checks indefinitely. The rules are designed to benefit those with a single, less serious offence.
Impact on Jobs Requiring DBS Checks
A drink driving conviction does not automatically bar you from any profession. Even where the conviction appears on a DBS check, the employer must carry out an individual risk assessment considering the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred and its relevance to the role being applied for.
For roles in healthcare, education, social work and other caring professions, an enhanced DBS check is standard. A drink driving conviction will be visible during the filtering period, but employers in these sectors regularly recruit people with minor criminal records. The key factor is whether the conviction is relevant to the duties of the role.
If you are concerned about the impact of a drink driving conviction on your career, it is worth seeking advice from organisations such as Nacro, which provides guidance on disclosure obligations and how to present a conviction positively to prospective employers.