Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2026.

(2) This Order comes into force on 21st January 2026.

(3) This Order extends to England and Wales only.

Amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975

2.—(1) The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975(2) is amended as follows.

(2) In article 3(1), after sub-paragraph (o) insert—

“(p)any question asked by or on behalf of a person who seeks to employ or engage a self-employed person or a person as a personal employee, in order to assess the suitability of the person to whom the question relates for any work specified in paragraph 12A, 14A or 14AA of Part 2 of Schedule 1.”.

(3) In Schedule 1—

(a)In Part 2 (offices, employments and work), after paragraph 46 insert—

“47. Any employment which is concerned with the delivery of electronic monitoring and field services by a contractor in accordance with arrangements made by the Secretary of State under section 3 of the Offender Management Act 2007(3).

48. Registered health care professionals employed or engaged by—

(a)the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions;

(b)contractors or sub-contractors, who are carrying out activities for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.”;

(b)In Part 4 (interpretation)—

(i)after the definition of “notary public of England and Wales” insert—

““personal employee” means a person employed or engaged directly by a private individual to provide domestic or personal services;”;

(ii)after the definition of “registered foreign lawyer” insert—

““registered health care professional” has the meaning assigned to the expression “health care professional” in section 39(1) of the Social Security Act 1998(4);”.

(4) In Schedule 2 (excepted licences, certificates and permits), after paragraph 6 insert—

“7. Licences granted under regulations made under section 2 of the Pedicabs (London) Act 2024(5).”.