Requirements
3.5.1 A Church of England Confidential Declaration Form (CDF) must be completed by all applicants for employed roles that engage in regulated activity or roles which, although outside regulated activity, are still eligible for an enhanced DBS check. If an applicant refuses to complete a CDF, then the recruitment process must be terminated.
3.5.2 The CDF must be submitted at the same time as the job application form and for re-checks, it must be submitted at the point of the DBS application being made.
3.5.3 All recruitment documentation must explain that a completed CDF is required for that role and the basis on which that requirement is made.
3.5.4 The CDF must only be viewed by those who need to see it as part of the recruitment & selection process.
Guidance
3.5.1 – 3.5.4 Confidential Declaration Forms
Why?
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA) allows certain convictions and cautions to be considered ‘spent’ after a specified period of time11. The specified period is determined by the sentence or penalty received for the offence. Once a caution or conviction is spent, the person is considered rehabilitated, and the ROA treats the person as if they had never committed an offence. This means that applicants with criminal records have the right to legally withhold such information when applying for many jobs. If someone’s caution or conviction is spent, it’s unlawful for employers/recruiters etc. to consider it when making a decision about their suitability for a job.
However, some roles are made exempt from the ROA by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, commonly known as the ‘ROA Exceptions Order’. Broadly speaking, the ROA Exceptions Order lists those roles and positions that are exempted from the provisions of the ROA, this includes roles which have substantial contact/work with children, young people or vulnerable adults. If the role you are recruiting to is exempt (which should be defined as part of the job description), this means the individual will be eligible for an Enhanced DBS (with/without Barred List/s) check (see Section 3.8.2: Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).
Applicants for roles that are exempt must be asked to complete and submit the Church of England Confidential Declaration Form which gives the individual the opportunity to disclose details of any convictions, cautions, final warnings and reprimands which are not protected i.e. not eligible for being filtered out in accordance with the DBS filtering rules, and will be displayed on an Enhanced DBS certificate. The information declared by the applicant on the CDF, (as well as any subsequently viewed on the Enhanced DBS certificate later in this process) can be considered when deciding on an individual’s suitability for the job for which they have applied. The CDF should be held on the applicant’s file if they are successful.
How?
Asking individuals applying for exempt roles to declare their criminal record and other information via the Church of England CDF should be done in a way that encourages honesty and openness.
All recruitment and selection documentation must include an explanation that the post is exempt from Section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 by virtue of the fact that the post/role is included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations. The same documentation must also explain exactly what information will be requested from them and at which stage of the process.
It should be made clear that the information will only be used to inform the overall assessment as to a candidate’s suitability for the job, where it is relevant. All of this should be stated on the relevant privacy notice. Providing this information from the outset of the process, will help prospective applicants decide whether they would like to apply or not.
The Church of England's Confidential Declaration form is available online and can be completed electronically or by hand.
When?
There is nothing to prevent church bodies requesting a CDF at an early stage of the recruitment process, provided there is sufficient justification or legitimate purpose for doing so. If someone is applying for a role in regulated activity or for a role which, although outside regulated activity, is still eligible for an Enhanced DBS check, it is perfectly reasonable.
For example, you may have a candidate applying for a role in regulated activity, but the CDF identifies that they are barred from that activity by the DBS. If you don’t ask a candidate to complete the CDF until after they are shortlisted for interview, you would not know that they were barred until then. If a person is barred, you must not interview the person for a regulated activity role. It would be a criminal offence to employ such a person in regulated activity, as well as a criminal offence for them to apply. By asking candidates to complete the CDF at the same time as their job application form, this situation is avoided.
What?
If the candidate has declared information on their CDF, this should be assessed in accordance with the church body’s agreed process and, if it does not make them unsuitable to be shortlisted, the declared information should be discussed at interview.
Appropriate notes recording the discussions with the individual should be kept within the interview notes. The information provided during the interview discussion must be referred to the appropriate point of contact within the safeguarding team relevant to the body (e.g. Cathedral or Diocesan Safeguarding Officer (CSO/DSO)) and considered in a reasonable and measured way.
A record must be kept at this stage as to why, based on the information provided within the CDF and the subsequent discussion with the individual, this information does or does not affect their ability to be progressed to the next stage.
Throughout this process, transparency with applicants is key. Criminal record information is sensitive, special category data and subject to additional protection under data protection legislation. Ensuring individuals are fully aware of a church body’s policies and procedures is essential. Applicants must be made aware of when and why such information is being requested, what will be done with it, who it may be shared with and for how long it will be retained. Church bodies will need to have a retention policy about storing the information, whether a candidate is successful or not.
A separate privacy notice must be attached to the CDF to detail how a person’s personal data will be processed in this context. A template privacy notice for the CDF can be found online.
Church bodies should consult their data protection lead if they have any queries in relation to the processing of this personal data or the privacy notice.
If an applicant does not wish to complete a CDF the application should not proceed further and must be terminated, and relevant retention rules applied to data already collected.