# The Police (Vetting) Regulations 2025, Regulation 5D: Suitability to hold vetting clearance: criminal offences


(1) Paragraphs (2) and (3) apply for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations that requires a person to make an assessment in connection with the suitability of a police officer to hold vetting clearance.
(2) A police officer is not suitable to hold vetting clearance if—
(a) the officer has been convicted of a criminal offence for which the court imposed a custodial sentence,
(b) the officer is, or has been, subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (notification and orders),
(c) the officer has been convicted of, or given a caution for, a listed offence,
(d) the officer has been convicted of an attempt or conspiracy to commit a listed offence, or
(e) the officer has been convicted of, or given a caution for, an offence which the vetting authority has determined involved behaviour by the officer amounting to domestic abuse within the meaning of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (see section 1 of that Act),
unless there are exceptional circumstances which justify the officer being regarded as suitable to hold vetting clearance notwithstanding the commission of that offence.
(3) A police officer is also not suitable to hold vetting clearance if the officer has been convicted of, or given a caution for, any other offence, unless there are particular circumstances relevant to the officer’s case which justify the officer being regarded as suitable to hold vetting clearance notwithstanding the commission of that offence.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/502/regulation/5D (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/police-vetting-regulations-2025/regulation-5D
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.