Police Cautions and your Career

If you hope to be a social worker or are currently a social worker, then having a simple police caution may affect your ability to work.

Becoming a Social Worker and Police Cautions

In order to become a social worker you first have to be accepted onto a degree course in social work. In most cases you will have to declare a simple caution and carry out a DBS background check. If you have a caution for a violence offence, drugs or a dishonesty type offences, then this may potentially act as a serious  impediment to you enrolling on a University course.

If your caution relates to vulnerable people, such as children or the elderly, then it will be particularly difficult for you to pursue a role as a social worker.

Even if you are accepted onto a University course, there is no guarantee that one of the UK Social Work councils will permit your registration. Once you finish your degree you will again be asked to undertake a DBS check by your regulatory authority; your police caution may potentially be disclosed and it might prevent you from working as a social worker.

Once you qualify, future employers may take your police caution into consideration when offering you employment.

Police Cautions Removal Solicitor

If you hope to work in social care and have a police caution then please get in touch. I am qualified solicitor and I have had a significant number of police cautions removed. I have had police cautions removed for a wide variety of professional clients including:

  • Doctors
  • Lawyers
  • Social workers
  • Police officers
  • Dentists
  • Teachers
  • Corporate Officers
  • Engineers
  • Students
  • Media Professionals
  • Investment Bankers

I recently co-authored a journal paper on the reform of the police cautioning procedure in the Criminal Law Review (the leading criminal law journal – see here for the abstract of the paper: “Suggestions for Reform to the Simple Cautioning procedure”). I also recently wrote the UK Westlaw Insight on Police Cautions – Westlaw Insights are written “by experts in the field including leading solicitors, barristers and academics – all overseen by Parliamentary Counsel.”

Police Cautions

There are a number of reasons why you might have received an unfairly issued caution and I am usually able to determine, after an initial phone consultation, whether you have a chance of having your caution removed (expunged).

You may have been unfairly coerced into accepting your caution, you may not have admitted the allegation, you may have received incorrect legal advice or there may be some other reason which renders your caution unfair.

Solicitor for Police Cautions Removal

If you want to work as a social worker and you have a police caution then please get in touch.

I am not able to offer advice on police cautions on legal aid but I charge reasonable fixed fees for my services.

Please get in touch to find out more.