Justice Secretary David Lammy is reportedly considering wiping childhood criminal records.
The move, designed to help simplify the criminal records check system, aims to prevent minor teenage offences from scuppering adult job prospects, following Daily Telegraph reports that youthful transgressions are still disclosed to employers in middle age.
“We will consider opportunities to simplify the criminal records regime to ensure it is clear and proportionate, particularly in relation to childhood offences,” Mr Lammy, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, told the newspaper.
The Ministry of Justice, meanwhile, said: “We want to help children who have committed crime to stop re-offending and turn their lives around.
“That is why the government is actively exploring opportunities to simplify the criminal records system, while always putting public safety first.”
In 2017, Mr Lammy led a review of discrimination within the policing and criminal justice system, commissioned by the Conservatives under Lord David Cameron and then Baroness Theresa May.
It advocated for reform of how criminal records are kept and recommended offenders should be able to appeal to a judge to have their records “sealed” if they demonstrate they have changed their behaviour since they were convicted.
