Historical same-sex sexual conviction disregards and pardons, June 2023 to March 2025
Published 15 May 2025
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/same-sex-sexual-conviction-disregards-june-2023-to-march-2025/historical-same-sex-sexual-conviction-disregards-and-pardons-june-2023-to-march-2025
Frequency of release: Annual
Forthcoming release: Research and Statistics
Home Office responsible statistician: John Flatley
Press enquires: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk, Telephone: 0300 123 3535
Public enquires: crimeandpolicestats@homeoffice.gov.uk
1. Introduction
The Disregards and Pardons Scheme was established following the enactment of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to address the historical discrimination faced by individuals who were criminalised for same-sex sexual activity. Initially, the scheme was open to men with specific convictions for homosexual offences that have since been repealed. These individuals could apply to have their convictions and/or cautions ‘disregarded’ by the Secretary of State (meaning deleted from official records). The specific offences were limited to buggery, gross indecency, and equivalent offences under military law (for veterans).
Sections 194 and 195 in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 significantly extended the scope of the scheme. From 13 June 2023, the scheme was extended in the following ways:
- it is now open to any individual applicant
- the Home Office will consider any repealed or abolished offence that was used to criminalise same-sex sexual activity
If an application is received which does not relate to convictions for same-sex sexual activity; or is outside of the jurisdiction of the Home Office; or is not repealed or abolished, then this is considered outside of the scope of the legislation.
The aim for the new scheme is to enable more people, including women and those serving in the UK Armed Forces, who were convicted for same-sex sexual activity in the past, to apply for those convictions to be disregarded. The conditions for a disregard are that the activity giving rise to the offence must have been consensual, that any other person involved in the sexual activity was aged 16 or over, and that the sexual activity would not, if occurring in the same circumstances at the point of decision, constitute an offence. For example, sexual activity in a public lavatory would be ineligible for disregard or pardon as it remains an offence under section 71 of the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) 2003.
The scheme applies to offences committed in England and Wales, with the exception of services offences which are reserved in the UK. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes related to disregarding homosexual convictions.
Due to the extension of the scope of the scheme, there was a data gap from 10 November 2022 to 13 June 2023. During this time period, there was a total of 9 applications. Of those, 3 applications were eligible for a disregard (and fell under Section 13 (gross indecency) SOA 1956), and 6 applications were ineligible for a disregard. This was mainly due to the offences being outside the scope of legislation as set out above (5 offences, and one offence falling under no police/court records found; no records to disregard).
This publication provides information on the number of applications for consideration received by the Home Office from 13 June 2023 (when the scheme was extended) to end of March 2024, and during the financial year ending March 2025, across England and Wales (and wider services offences). For this reason, the first time period of data since the extension is not a full financial year and therefore cannot be directly compared to the year ending March 2025, which is the first full year of data for this scheme.
In addition, due to the extension of the Scheme, the data reported in this publication is not directly comparable to the previously published data under the old scheme, which can be found here: Disregard process for convictions for decriminalised sexual offences (consensual gay sex).
2. Key findings
For the year ending March 2025, 36 applications were received, the same as during the period from June 2023 to March 2024.
Of those applications received in the year ending March 2025, there were a total number of 70 convictions considered. This compares with 53 in the time period of June 2023 to March 2024.
Table 1: The number of applicants, and number of convictions and cautions
| June 2023 to March 2024 | Year ending March 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of applicants | 36 | 36 |
| Number of convictions and cautions | 53 | 70 |
Source: Disregards and Pardons Scheme recorded figures, Home Office
Figure 1: Decision for applications received in the year ending March 2025
Source: Disregards and Pardons Scheme recorded figures, Home Office
Figure 1 shows, for the year ending March 2025, there were 18 convictions eligible for a disregard, slightly lower than the 22 convictions for the time period June 2023 to March 2024 (Figure 2), and 31 convictions ineligible for a disregard (the same as during the period from June 2023 to March 2024). As of 31 March 2025, 21 applications were still in progress.
Figure 2: Decision for applications received in time period June 2023 to March 2024
Source: Disregards and Pardons Scheme recorded figures, Home Office
For both time periods, the majority of disregarded convictions were military offences, with 14 in the year ending March 2025, and 21 in the time period June 2023 to March 2024 (Table 2).
Table 2: The number of disregards by conviction type
| Eligibility breakdown | June 2023 to March 2024 | Year ending March 2025 | Grand Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 12 (buggery) SOA 1956 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Section 13 (gross indecency) SOA 1956 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Equivalent military offences | 21 | 14 | 35 |
| Other | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 22 | 18 | 40 |
Source: Disregards and Pardons Scheme recorded figures, Home Office
Around a third of applications for the year ending March 2025 were ineligible for a disregard, either due to the criminal offence still being extant (that is, the behaviour that led to the conviction would still be considered an offence today) (19 applications), the other party being aged 15 and under (5 applications), offences being outside the scope of the legislation (3 applications), or because the Home Office could not trace any records from the police/court to disregard (3 applications). Whereas, in the time period June 2023 to March 2024, close to half were ineligible due to the criminal offence still being extant (14 applications) and around a third were ineligible as the Home Office could not trace any records from the police/court to disregard (12 applications).
Table 3: The number of convictions ineligible, by ineligibility breakdown
| Ineligibility breakdown | June 2023 to March 2024 | Year ending March 2025 | Grand Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-consensual | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Offences outside the scope of legislation | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| No police/court records found; no records to disregard | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| Other party aged 15 and under | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Considered criminal offence today | 14 | 19 | 33 |
| Total | 31 | 31 | 62 |
Source: Disregards and Pardons Scheme recorded figures, Home Office
3. Appeals
No appeals have been granted during either of the 2 most recent time periods (June 2023 to March 2024, and April 2024 to March 2025).