Bristol City Council No Longer Asks For Criminal Conviction Disclosure

Criminal conviction disclosure removed from council Job applications in Bristol

Bristol City Council will no longer ask job applicants to disclose their criminal record when applying for jobs within the local authority.

The council are the first in the UK to become a Ban the Box employer, which aims to remove barriers back into work for those with criminal convictions.

Successful candidates who progress through the application process will be asked about previous convictions prior to a job offer. The council say they will withdraw a job offer should any disclosed convictions mean the position would be inappropriate to applicant.

The move to Ban the Box, was recommended by the council’s Human Resources Committee back in 2016. The campaign originated in the USA and aimed to remove the difficulties those who have records generated by things like court fines were not put off of applying.

People applying to work for job roles within education, or those that put them into contact with vulnerable people will not be eligible for the Ban the Box application route and will still require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees said: “Everyone applying for a job at the council should be given the same encouragement and opportunity irrespective of their background. Bristol is a place where the opportunities to share in the city’s success are not evenly distributed and barriers exist that prevent some from fulfilling their potential. Our aim is to remove one of those barriers and send a message that we’re interested in getting to know the person applying for the job first and begin our conversation there.”

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