I have had my arrest record deleted from the PNC – what other information does the police hold on me? 

When a person is arrested for an offence, a record of that arrest will be kept on the Police National Computer (PNC). This record could potentially appear on an Enhanced DBS Certificate, under the ‘Other Relevant Information’ section. It will also cause a Police Certificate to state ‘No Live Trace’ (as opposed to ‘No Trace’), which may delay any visa applications and may require an explanation to immigration officials in countries like the United States.  

If you are not charged or convicted for the offence, you can apply to have the record removed from the PNC via the ACRO Record Deletion Process.  

However, individuals should be aware that, even if a record is successfully deleted from the PNC, each police force will retain a locally held record of the event. 

Locally held Records (PND) 

Local police forces retain these records for policing purposes, in order to be able to identify and manage risk. Nevertheless, the information collected must not be excessive, and police forces are required to ensure that their records are accurate, proportionate, and relevant to policing purposes. 

Locally held records, whether stored on other electronic document management systems or in manuscript, are managed by Police Forces in accordance with Authorised Professional Practice (APP) – Information Management issued by the College of Policing. As this guidance indicates, police forces must keep an eye to the relevant legislation – such as the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 – and as such these records are subject to an initial review to ascertain whether to keep the record. 

Following this initial review, police forces will schedule reviews of records at regular intervals. The timeframe of these intervals will depend on the seriousness of the allegations.  

Crucially, reviews can also be triggered, particularly where there are concerns regarding the adequacy, relevance or accuracy of the record, and where there is a concern that these records may impact DBS checks. 

Will my locally held record appear on an Enhanced DBS check? 

In some cases, it is possible for a locally held record to appear on an Enhanced DBS under the ‘Other Relevant Information’ section, which includes ‘soft intelligence’ held by the police.  

For example, in cases where a PNC record has not been created – such as in some cases where a person has not been arrested, but has been invited to a voluntary interview – the police may still choose to disclose this information to the DBS.  

Importantly, in our experience, if a record has successfully been deleted from the PNC, the locally held record is not subsequently disclosed to the DBS. 

Will my locally held record appear on a Police Certificate? 

As a Police Certificate is a reflection of the PNC, a locally held record should not appear on it. 

Need an Arrest Record Specialist Lawyer?

Contact our specialist record removal team to discuss how Olliers can help you successfully make an application for record deletion by telephone on 0161 8341515, by email to dbs@olliers.com or by completing the form below.