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Applying to come off the Sex Offenders Register if you’re on it indefinitely
Anyone who has been convicted of a relevant sexual offence and received a prison sentence of 30 months or more will have to notify the police (often referred to as ‘signing the sex offenders’ register) indefinitely.
However, since 2012 individuals who are subject to indefinite notification requirements have the opportunity to apply to the police for a review of this requirement, after a fixed period of time has elapsed. This is currently 15 years for an adult and 8 years for a juvenile.
Back in 2016, BBC News undertook a Freedom of Information (FOI) request which highlighted the number of people with indefinite notification requirements who had successfully applied to be removed from the Sex Offenders Register (SOR).
We were interested in updating this information and, although the previous FOI covered a four-year period, we have concentrated on just one year, namely April 2017 to March 2018. We made an FOI request for this information and have summarised the findings below. The full response can be seen here.
Some key figures
Approximately 60,000 individuals were on the sex offenders’ register as at March 2018
335 people successfully applied to have their indefinite notification revoked in the year April 2017 – March 2018 out of a total number of 588 applications – a 57% success rate.
21 police forces approved over 50% of the applications they received.
Which police forces approved the most/least applications in 2017/18?
Essex and Cumbria both approved 100% of the applications they received.
Dyfed Powys, Northamptonshire, Surrey and Warwickshire Police did not approve any requests.
The charts below give a breakdown of the forces that approved the most/least applications (click on them to enlarge)
What can we take from these figures?
If you are considering applying to have your indefinite notification revoked, then it’s probably interesting to see how the force you’re applying to have dealt with applications in previous years.
Comparing the most recent FOI with the one carried out in 2016 (which covered a four year period), Devon & Cornwall, Norfolk and North Wales Police were in the top 10 of forces that approved the most applications in both periods.
Meanwhile, Humberside, Lancashire and West Yorkshire were in the bottom 10 and approved the fewest applications in both periods.
In 2011-2015 and 2017-2018, Dyfed Powys Police did not approve any applications whilst North Wales Police were one of the forces that had approved the most.
Our advice to anybody with an indefinite notification requirement would be to request a review as soon as you are able to. If you are living in an area where historically very few applications have been approved, then it may be useful to have an informal chat with your PPU officer to get a feel for how your application will be dealt with.
For more information
For practical self-help information – More information is available on our sexual offencessection, and we have specific information on the notification requirements, including indefinite registration.
Moving on: The impact of a motoring conviction on your criminal record
This month, we’ve written a further article for InsideTime ‘Through the Gate’ Section which focuses on the impact of a motoring conviction on your criminal record.
A copy of the article can be found below.
For anyone serving a prison sentence of less than 4 years your conviction will be spent (under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) at some time in the future. The time it takes depends on the specific sentence. However, motoring convictions are treated slightly differently which can cause confusion and often results in people failing to disclose something they need to disclose.
Endorsements
Some driving offences can result in your licence being revoked (i.e. you’re banned from driving) or even a prison sentence. However, in addition to these specific disposals your driving licence is usually endorsed.
In the days of paper licences, it was really easy to see that your licence had been endorsed. After you’d appeared in court, you’d normally be asked to send off your licence to the DVLA who would return it to you with a code added; for example SP30 (if you’ve been found guilty of speeding on a public road) or DR10 (for a drink driving conviction). Now that we no longer have paper licences, endorsements are kept electronically by the DVLA.
If you’re unsure whether you’ve got an endorsement, it’s possible to check your own driving licence using the DVLA Shared Driving Licence Scheme or alternatively, apply for a Subject Access Request from ACRO Criminal Records Office; both are done online.
When do motoring convictions become spent?
In terms of when your conviction becomes spent, it’s important to note that any endorsement imposed by a court for a road traffic offence is treated as a sentence under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Every endorsement has a five year ‘rehabilitation period’ (which is the time it takes to become spent).
For example, if Mr Smith is banned from driving for three years, the time it takes for his conviction to become spent would be three years. However, Mr Smith was also given an endorsement, which means that his conviction would not actually become spent for 5 years as it would be based on the disposal with the longest rehabilitation period.
Further information on the rehabilitation periods for specific motoring convictions can be found on our website.
If you already have an unspent conviction and get another one before the first one is spent, then neither conviction becomes spent until the rehabilitation period for both offences ends. For example, Jamie received a 3 year prison sentence for possession and supply of drugs. His conviction was due to become spent in January 2019 but in December 2018 he was convicted of using a mobile phone whilst driving and received a £200 fine. This means that neither conviction would now become spent until December 2023.
Endorsements and your driving licence
The length of time that motoring offences stay on your licence is governed by road traffic legislation and is completely separate to the time it takes for it to become spent. An endorsement may be removed from your licence after 4 years but you’d still need to disclose it to employers/insurers for 5 years if asked. Likewise, an endorsement that remained on your licence for 11 years would become spent after 5 years and wouldn’t need to be disclosed.
Fixed Penalty Notices for road traffic offences
A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) can be used to deal with minor traffic offences, but it is not a criminal conviction or a caution unless it relates to a road traffic offence listed in Section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Getting insurance with a motoring conviction
The majority of high street insurers will refuse you car insurance if you have an unspent motoring conviction. If you find yourself in this situation then you’ll need to purchase your insurance through a broker. Unlock has a list of specialist car insurance brokers which can be found online.
If you’ve been forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive these updates directly by clicking here and selecting to receive ‘News/updates for people with convictions’
If you have found this information useful, please leave us your feedback and/or consider making a donation.
Have you just stumbled across this? You can receive these updates direct to your inbox every month for free bysigning up to our mailing list (make sure you choose to receive ‘news for people with convictions’)
Updates to our information site
Here’s a summary of the updates that we’ve made recently to the theInformationHub. There are links within each update to where you can find more information about the update. There are also links next to many of the updates, which link to threads on our online forum where you can discuss these with other people with convictions.
About criminal records
GDPR and data protection – Guidance for individuals – Following the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations we’ve produced some new guidance which deals with the use of GDPR and the Data Protection Act for recruitment purposes and the collection and processing of criminal record data.
Coming to (and staying) in the UK
Applying for citizenship – We’ve added a link to an article by Freemovement on ‘Naturalising or registering as a British citizen: the good character requirement’ which sets out the behaviour which the Home Office believe indicates that a person is not “of good character”.
Important links and organisations – We’ve added a new section to this page with organisations that provide immigration advice.
theRecord posts
Below are links to recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord. These are often linked to from the practical information that we have, to help give some personal experiences.
Success – Prison to parenthood – “2018 was the strangest year I’ve known. It began in a prison cell with all the usual, well intended resolutions that this year would be different and to be fair, it has certainly been that. The year ended with me assisting self-representing fathers in the family court and launching the Prison to Parenthood project in prisons …..”
Struggles and stigma – Although my conviction can be filtered, 11 years seems a very long time to wait – “Back in 2015, I attended a colleague’s surprise 40th birthday party. I didn’t go out that often without my boyfriend and was excited to spend time with good friends and to celebrate with them. There was good wine and lots of interesting dance moves and myself and my good friend continued the night out in town after the party finished …..”
Success – Living and working in China after asking the police to delete my cautions – “Although I’ll admit that I’d had a bit of a troubled past in my youth, I’d always felt that the four cautions I had on my criminal record shouldn’t have been there. They’d never really caused me too many problems until I tried applying for a visa to travel to China and then I realised that as far as travel was concerned, they were likely to be a huge problem …..”
Job opportunities – New ‘Opportunities’page – “We know that getting a paid or voluntary role can be really important in helping people to turn their lives around if they have a criminal record and, although it doesn’t always seem like it, there are lots of organisations that look to proactively recruit people with convictions. As part of our work to raise awareness of these opportunities, we’ve introduced a new opportunities page …..”
Discussions on our online forum
Below are links to recent posts to our online forum. If you’d like to join in the discussion but are not currently a forum member, find out how you can join here.
Depression and a ‘virtual prison’ -Jonathan61 wants to know how people cope with their emotions after receiving a criminal record and how they deal with the fact that restrictions placed on them can put them in ‘virtual prisons’. Do you have any advice you can give him?
Unlock responds to Supreme Court judgement on criminal records disclosure regime – We’ve posted a link to our response to the Supreme Court judgement and would be interested to hear your thoughts and opinions.
Other news and developments
Below are links to other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record. For more news, check out the news and media section of our main website.
Press and media coverage of the Supreme Court judgement
There has been a significant amount of press and media attention on the judgement of the Supreme Court which ruled that the criminal records disclosure scheme as it applies to multiple convictions and childhood warnings/reprimands was found to be disproportionate. Find out more about the coverage and commentary pieces.
New proposals for all taxi drivers to undergo an enhanced DBS check
Unlock’s co-director, Christopher Stacey spoke on Radio 5 Live about the proposed new guidance from the Department of Transport which suggests that all taxi drivers should undergo an enhanced DBS check before being considered for a licence. You can listen to the program here.
A new video about our work
We’re pleased to be able to share a short video that explains a bit about the work Unlock does and why it’s so important to help the millions of people in this country who have a criminal record.
GDPR and data protection – Guidance for individuals
On the 25th May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force and the Data Protection Act 1998 was replaced by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA18) to incorporate the GDPR provisions which are specific to the UK.
We’ve produced some new guidance which deals specifically with the use of GDPR and DPA18 for recruitment purposes and the collection and processing of criminal record data. It sets out what personal data employers are allowed to collect and process, and the steps you can take if you believe an employer has breached GDPR/DPA18.
Have you just stumbled across this? You can receive these updates direct to your inbox every month for free bysigning up to our mailing list (make sure you choose to receive ‘news for people with convictions’)
Updates to our information site
Here’s a summary of the updates that we’ve made recently to the theInformationHub. There are links within each update to where you can find more information about the update. There are also links next to many of the updates, which link to threads on our online forum where you can discuss these with other people with convictions.
Travelling abroad
Travelling to the EU post-Brexit – We’ve produced an advice post setting out our understanding of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) for people with convictions wishing to travel to the EU as a result of Brexit.
About criminal records
Police Certificate – We’ve updated this page to include links to the latest ACRO step down model.
theRecord posts
Below are links to recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord. These are often linked to from the practical information that we have, to help give some personal experiences.
Success – What a difference 5 years makes – applying to university with a criminal record – “Nursing had always been my ultimate goal in life and I was very close to this dream becoming a reality when what I’m about to explain happened and all of that hard work and commitment had pretty much destroyed the dream …..”
Below are links to recent posts to our online forum. If you’d like to join in the discussion but are not currently a forum member, find out how you can join here.
Has anyone successfully obtained a business bank account with a fraud conviction? – Marcovanba wants some advice about opening a business bank account with a fraud conviction as he was refused a business account approximately 18 months ago. Has anybody had any experience of this?
ECHR – Following an article in The Independent stating that Theresa May is “considering axing the Human Rights Act after Brexit”, CC is worried about the loss of protections for people with convictions. Let us have your views.
Other news and developments
Below are links to other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record. For more news, check out the news and media section of our main website.
Unlock’s response to Supreme Court judgement on criminal records disclosure regime
We provided an intervention to the Supreme Court to highlight the unjust consequences of the current regime and the alternative, fairer systems available. Read Christopher Stacey’s comments on the judgement.
A personal response to today’s Supreme Court ruling
Ellie has been actively involved in our work to push for changes to the DBS filtering rules and featured in a BBC Newsnight piece that aired before the Supreme Court hearing which started in June 2018. Read her response to the judgement.
Winter 2018/19 Newsletter – What we’ve been up to
We’ve published our Winter 2018/19 newsletter which provides an update of the news at Unlock in the last three months.
Unlock’s co-founder, Bob Turney, becomes a patron
We’re delighted to announce that Bob Turney, one of Unlock’s founders, has joined us as a patron. Find out more about Bob here.
If you’ve been forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive these updates directly by clicking here and selecting to receive ‘News/updates for people with convictions’
If you have found this information useful, please leave us your feedback and/or consider making a donation.
Travel to the EU post-Brexit
At the end of 2018, the EU Commission confirmed that UK citizens will need approval via the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) to travel to the EU as a result of Brexit. It’s believed that EU citizens and UK nationals will continue to be able to travel freely with a passport or identity card until the end of the transition period in 2020.
This led to a number of people contacting us asking about what implications this might have for people with criminal records, so we committed to producing some information on how the ETIAS works. Obviously, at this stage what we say is based on the assumption that the ETIAS process will be the same for UK nationals and our understanding of how the system will work once it is fully introduced.
The application form will probably take about 10 minutes to complete and will cost £6.30. It’ll need to be completed by all travellers between the ages of 18 and 70 and will be done online.
Each applicant will be asked to provide a range of personal details, including:
Name, date and place of birth, gender, current nationality, names of applicants parents;
Other names or nationalities, if any;
Passport details;
Home address;
Email address and telephone number if available;
Education (primary, secondary, higher or none);
Current occupation selected from a pre-determined list;
Details of the Member State being visited.
In addition, you will also be asked the following questions:
Have you been convicted of any criminal offence listed in the Annex (see below) over the previous 15 years and in the case of terrorist offences, over the previous 25 years, and if so when and in which country?
Have you stayed in a specific war or conflict zone over the previous 10 years and if so, the reason for your stay?
Have you been subject to any decision requiring you to leave the territory of a Member State or have you been subject to any return decision issue over the previous 10 years?
Terrorist offences
Participation in a criminal organisation
Trafficking in human beings
Sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
Illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
Illicit trafficking in weapons, munitions and explosives
Corruption
Fraud, including that against the financial interests of the Union
Laundering of the proceeds of crime and counterfeiting of currency, including the euro
Computer-related crime/cybercrime
Environmental crime, including illicit trafficking in endangered animal species and in endangered plant species and varieties
Facilitation of unauthorised entry and residence
Murder, grievous bodily injury
Illicit trade in human organs and tissues
Kidnapping, illegal restraint and hostage-taking
Organised and armed robbery
Illicit trafficking in cultural goods, including antiques and works of art
Counterfeiting and piracy of products
Forgery of administrative documents and trafficking therein
Illicit trafficking in hormonal substances and other growth promoters
Illicit trafficking in nuclear or radioactive materials
Rape
Crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court
Unlawful seizure of aircraft or ships
Sabotage
Trafficking in stolen vehicles
Industrial espionage
Arson
Racism and xenophobia
If your criminal record falls outside of the scope of the question (for example, an arson conviction from 20 years ago, a caution, or a recent conviction for theft), then you can answer ‘No’ and your criminal record shouldn’t be a barrier.
If your criminal records falls within the scope of the question, you will need to answer ‘Yes’ to the above question and you will then be required to provide answers to an additional set of predetermined questions on the application form by selecting from a predetermined list of answers. So far, we haven’t had sight of these questions.
Step 1 – The automatic process
Applications will be automatically processed by the ETIAS Central System which will have access to your application file together with any other linked application files and any ‘hits’ (namely questions 1-3 above) triggered during the automated processing. The ETIAS Central Unit will verify whether the data recorded in your application file corresponds to one or more of the following:
Specific risk indicators relating to security, illegal immigration or high epidemic risks;
Data present in the ETIAS Central System, including the ETIAS watch-list;
Data present in one of the EU information systems that are consulted;
Europol data;
Data present in the Interpol, Stolen and Lost Travel Documents and Travel Documents Associated with Notices databases.
We expect most people with criminal records will only need to go through the automatic process, because their conviction will be older, not serious enough or not of the type of offence covered, and so will be able to answer no to the 3 questions above. This will mean that their application will be automatically approved.
Step 2 – The manual process
Where the automated process reports one of more ‘hits’ your application will be passed to the ETIAS National Unit for manual processing . The National Unit will be responsible for assessing the risk you pose based on your criminal record, security, illegal immigration etc. They will then:
issue you with a travel authority
refuse your travel authority
The results of the assessment and the justification behind the decision to issue or refuse a travel authorisation will be recorded in the application file by the staff member performing the risk assessment.
Where the National Unit deem the information you’ve provided to be insufficient to enable it to make a decision you may be asked to provide further information/documentation. In exceptional circumstances and as a last resort, if serious doubts remain regarding information or documentation provided by you, the National Unit may invite you to an interview in your country of residence. You will be told in advance which elements of your application will be addressed by the interviewer.
At this stage we still have a lot of questions (like a lot of things Brexit-related). We will be publishing more details as we learn more about travelling to the EU post-Brexit.
If you know anything about the ETIAS process that would help us to improve this information, please let us know.
Some examples of people we’ve helped
Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped.
However, more importantly than our role, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers that have been put in their way due to their criminal record.
We’ve posted the examples below as case studies in the support section of our website:
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