Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2006

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 12 June be approved [30th Report from the Joint Committee]. The noble Baroness said: My Lords, a draft of this order was laid before Parliament on 12 June 2006. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 allows ex-offenders not to disclose certain old, spent convictions in an effort to improve their employment opportunities and reduce reoffending. The exceptions order to the Act ensures that employers and bodies offering positions, professions and licences of a more sensitive nature would be excepted from the general rules and able to access an applicant’s full criminal history before reaching any decision. Passing this amendment will ensure that the exceptions order remains up to date and maintains its function asa safeguarding counterbalance to the rights that ex-offenders enjoy under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Ministers made a commitment last September to exempt some in-house football stewards from the need to be licensed under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. We therefore seek to amend the exceptions order to give the CRB the legal authority to carry out checks on football stewards at the request of the Football Association or Premier League. The noble Lord, Lord Pendry, recently tabled an amendment to the Violent Crime Reduction Bill that would exclude football stewards from the 2001 Act, a matter mentioned by the noble Baroness earlier. The Government are considering this, alongside responses received to the recent consultation, as I have already indicated, and will decide whether exemption remains the best course of action. In the mean time, this amendment is needed to meet our commitment to introduce these CRB checks before the new football season starts. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 12 June be approved [30th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Baroness Scotland of Asthal.)