Statistics on disregard process for convictions for decriminalised sexual offences (consensual gay sex)
Updated 31 March 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-on-the-disregard-and-pardon-for-historical-gay-sexual-convictions/statistics-on-disregards-and-pardons-for-historical-gay-sexual-convictions
Under provisions in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, men with historical convictions for consensual gay sex may apply to the Home Office to have their convictions disregarded (i.e. deleted, or where not possible, annotated) and pardoned.
The offences covered by the legislation are offences under Sections 12 (buggery) and Section 3 (gross indecency) of the Sexual Offences Act, 1956 as well as the equivalent military service offences and corresponding offences under earlier legislation. Where eligible, previous cautions, warnings and reprimands for the same offences can be considered.
The conditions for a disregard are that the activity giving rise to the offence must have been consensual, with a person of 16 or over, and any activity now would not be an offence under section 71 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity in a public lavatory).
The statistics regarding applications for consideration received by the Home Office to date, (i.e. from October 2012 to February 2021) are as follows:
- total number of applicants: 474
- total number of convictions considered: 709 (some applicants have more than one conviction)
Number of convictions eligible
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Section 12 (buggery) SOA 1956 | 23 |
| Section 13 (gross indecency) SOA 1956 | 168 |
| Equivalent military offences | 5 |
| Older legislation | 0 |
| Total | 196 |
Number of convictions not eligible
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Sexual activity in a public lavatory | 96 |
| Non-consensual | 19 |
| Other party under 16 years | 9 |
| No Police/ Court records found; no records to disregard | 31 |
| Offences outside the scope of legislation | 356 |
| Total | 511 |
Convictions awaiting a decision/in progress
Total: 2
Appeals
No appeals have been granted.
Additional information to note
This data represents the latest breakdown of applications processed under Chapter 4 of Part 5 of the Protections of Freedoms Act, to February 2012. Publication of updated figures has been delayed having previously been scheduled for update in autumn 2020, due to the discovery of historic counting errors in the previously reported totals. The above figures set out an accurate summary of total applications numbers to date, as quality assured by the Home Office’s Analysis and Insight Directorate.