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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Author: Debbie Sadler

Problems with the filtering of conditional cautions

Conditional cautions like simple cautions may be filtered from standard and enhanced DBS certificates after 6 years, providing you’ve not been cautioned for a non-filterable offence.

However, our helpline has been contacted recently by several people who’ve had conditional cautions which are eligible for filtering disclosed on their enhanced DBS certificate as a  conviction. Further investigations by Unlock have revealed that this is due to the way in which conditional cautions are recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC); as a conviction rather than a caution. Therefore, instead of being eligible for filtering after 6 years, the DBS filtering system doesn’t consider them to be eligible for 11 years.

This anomaly has resulted in several individuals having difficulties in either getting or keeping a job.

Example one

Mr D received a conditional caution in 2009 which was eligible for filtering in 2015. Although he’d always worked successfully as a teacher despite having to disclose his conditional caution, he was delighted to be able to apply for a teaching role without having to disclose it. However, on receipt of his enhanced certificate, his conditional caution had been disclosed as a conviction and his employers threatened to dismiss him as they considered his failure to disclose as a breach of trust.

Example two

Mr E’s conditional caution was eligible for filtering in April 2016 but had been disclosed on a recent enhanced DBS certificate under the convictions section. Although Mr E had raised the issue with the DBS Dispute Service, he believed that his job offer was likely to be withdrawn due to the length of time the check had taken.

Example three

Knowing that her conditional caution was eligible for filtering in May 2016, Ms D did not disclose it to her new employer after being offered a teaching assistant job at her local school. She was horrified to see the conditional caution on her enhanced certificate and immediately raised a query with the DBS. However, as she was unable to start work without the certificate, she was extremely worried that the school would withdraw the job offer.

Example four

Ms R’s conditional caution appeared on her enhanced DBS certificate despite being eligible for filtering in August 2015. As the conditional caution appeared in the conviction section on the certificate, her new employers had raised questions about the non-disclosure of the ‘conviction’ and were minded to revoke the job offer unless she was able to provide them with a ‘blank’ certificate.

Raising a query with the DBS

In all the above cases, the individuals raised a data query with the DBS and were able to get a new DBS certificate with the conditional caution removed. However, all of them suffered unnecessary stress and anxiety as a result of their conditional cautions being disclosed and, in some cases, their employers becoming aware of something that they shouldn’t have had any knowledge of.

We’ve raised this issue with the DBS but we’re keen to hear from anybody that has had a similar problem with a filtered conditional caution appearing on their standard or enhanced DBS certificate. Please send your examples to feedback@unlock.org.uk.

If you’re applying for a job but believe you’ve got a conditional caution which is eligible for filtering, make sure you request the certificate is sent to you. If the caution does appear, you’ll be able to raise a query with the DBS before your employer’s have sight of it.

For more information

  1. For practical self-help information – More information is available on filtering and criminal record checks for employment
  2. Questions – If you have any questions about this, you can contact our helpline.

Monthly summary – June 2018

Welcome to our monthly summary for June 2018.

This provides a summary of:

  1. the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions
  2. recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord
  3. discussions on our online forum
  4. other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record

Have you just stumbled across this? You can receive these updates direct to your inbox every month for free by signing 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

  • Finding out about your criminal record – Subject Access Requests and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) –  We’ve written an advice post on the effects of the General Data Protection Regulation on Subject Access Requests (SAR) and the pros and cons of applying for a SAR compared with a basic DBS check.
  • Retention and deletion of police cautions and convictions – We’ve updated this page to include some figures we’ve obtained from the ACRO Records Deletion Unit which sets out the number of successful and unsuccessful requests for information to be removed from the Police National Computer.

Information on the internet, online and through search engines like Google

  • The ‘google effect’, internet search results and the right to be forgotten – We’ve updated this page to provide details of an organisation who can, for a fixed fee, make requests on behalf of individuals to online search engines to have links to their name removed.
  • Changing your name – We’ve included a new link on this page to a personal story from an individual who’s been through the process of changing his name together with his top tips.

Links and organisations

  • Important links and organisations –  We’ve updated this page to include the details of organisations around the world who either work with or provide information and advice to people with a criminal record.

Leaving prison

  • We’ve updated our leaving prison landing page to include links to some new guidance from the Department of Works and Pensions on applying for Universal Credit prior to release.

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 – Changing my name has changed my life – “I’m a very lucky person. I come from a loving family which also happens to have a rather unique name; so unique that a song was written about it years ago. There’s not many of us around the world, so put my name into a search engine and sadly me and my 12 year sentence for a sexual offence comes up…..”

Struggles and stigma – It’s my conviction, not my children’s – the problem with the disqualification by association requirement – “I was recently released from prison having served 2.5 years for a sexual offence. I know there will be people who will be judging me. I can’t blame them for that; I’d have done the same a few years ago  …..”

Success – Volunteering taught me to work for a cause and not for applause – “Prior to receiving my conviction I had a pretty high profile job which provided me with a fantastic lifestyle and the respect of my family, friends and peers  …..” 

Struggles and stigma – When a warning for a playground fight turns into a life sentence – “Helen always wanted to be a nurse and was thrilled when she received an offer to study at one of the leading universities in the country. It was going to be hard work but she wasn’t worried, she knew it would be worth it in the end. That dream was shattered when the university revoked the offer. Was it because of her grades? No. She was rejected because she had a criminal record…..”

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.

Help, advice needed  – Sid received a conviction for a sexual offence in 2010 which is now spent. However, an old friend who’s struggled to come to terms with his conviction is now threatening to tell his family and friends about his conviction. Has anybody got any advice for him?

Wrongful disclosure of personal information  – Robisdave is looking for some advice after discovering that information about him had been found by a member of the public in a police officers workbook.

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.

New paper published: University admissions and criminal records – Lessons learned and next steps

Following the announcement by UCAS that it will be removing the requirements for applicants to disclose relevant unspent convictions, Unlock has published a paper, University admissions and criminal records: Lessons learned and next steps. This paper sets out why the changes being made by UCAS are the right way forward for anybody looking to apply to university with a criminal record.

Welcome aboard!

We’ve just appointed four new trustees to the Unlock board who took up their posts in June. Find out more about the team here.

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Monthly update – June 2018

We’ve just published our update for June 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. An advice post setting out the pros and cons of applying for a Subject Access Request compared with a basic DBS check if you want to find out whats on your criminal record.
  2. A link to an updated page on organisations around the world who either work with or provide information and advice to people with a criminal record.
  3. A personal story on changing your name.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum from Sid whose old friend is threatening to disclose details of his conviction to his family and friends.
  5. Details of a paper published by Unlock which sets out why recent changes being made by UCAS on their application forms are the way forward for anybody looking to apply to university with a criminal record.

 

The full update provides a summary of:

  1. the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions
  2. recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord
  3. discussions on our online forum
  4. other news and developments that might be of interest to individuals with a criminal record

 

Read the June 2018 update in full.

 

Best wishes,

Unlock

 

Notes

  • All previous updates can be found in full in the ‘Latest updates‘ section of our Information Hub
  • For more self-help information, please visit unlock.devchd.com/information-and-advice/
  • If you have any questions about this information, please contact our helpline
  • 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.

 

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.

We hope they give a good idea of how we help people.

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:

 

Albert – My daughter shouldn’t have been ‘Disqualified by association’ due to my caution

Celine – How ‘Disqualification by association’ unjustly effects the lives of family members who don’t have a conviction

Diana – Not letting a criminal record stop her from moving on with her life

Paul – Spent convictions should be disregarded for insurance purposes

Wendy – Historic minor conviction from 22 years ago caused problems securing a job

 

 

 

Finding out about your criminal record – Subject Access Requests and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

On the 25th May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) come into effect, changing the way that personal data is protected.

Your right to request information about your personal data will remain relatively unchanged. However, the previous fee of £10 for a Subject Access Request (SAR) has been abolished, meaning that SAR’s will now be free of charge.

So, with this in mind, if you want to find out what’s on your criminal record and what you need to disclose to an employer when applying for a job, what should you do?

You can either apply for:

  1. A basic Disclosure and Barring Service check
  2. A copy of your SAR

With SAR’s now being free of charge, you might assume that this is the best option available. However, it’s important to remember that what you see on your SAR will be different to what you’ll need to disclose to an employer. An SAR provides details of everything that’s held about you on the Police National Computer (PNC), it does not differentiate between spent and unspent convictions. If you’re not really careful you could easily find yourself disclosing too much to a potential employer.

You may be happy to go through your SAR and work out for yourself what’s spent and what’s not (you can use our disclosurecalculator to help you) but, if you would prefer to see exactly what an employer will see, then it’s always best to pay the £25 and apply for a basic check.

If you’re applying for jobs in the future that involve basic checks. In particular, if you think your conviction is spent and you’re planning not to disclose it to an employer.

  • If you’re applying for jobs involving standard/enhanced DBS checks.
  • If you want to know if something will be filtered and need to work it out.
  • If you want to find out what information the police hold about you.

For more information

  1. For practical self-help information – More information is available on police records – subject access requests and basic DBS checks
  2. Questions – If you have any questions about this, you can contact our helpline.

Overseas organisations that assist people with a criminal record

Receiving a conviction overseas can cause additional complications for individuals be they UK citizens or foreign nationals.

Sentences given in one country may be treated differently in another and it can be difficult to find organisations that can offer relevant help.

We’ve just updated our important links and organisations page to provide the details of a number of organisations around the world who either work with or provide information, advice or support to people with a criminal record.

If you’ve had any personal experience of an overseas organisation that you believe would be worth adding to the list then please let us know by emailing their details to feedback@unlock.org.uk.

Monthly summary – May 2018

Welcome to our monthly summary for May 2018.

This provides a summary of:

  1. the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions
  2. recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord
  3. discussions on our online forum
  4. other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record

Have you just stumbled across this? You can receive these updates direct to your inbox every month for free by signing 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. 

Work and volunteering

  • Self-disclosure statements/disclosure letters – We’ve developed some new self-disclosure examples which can be used to help individuals write their own. We’re also looking for people to share their own statements/letters, particularly if they resulted in a successful job offer.
  • Employment after release – We’ve written an article for InsideTime, specifically for people in prison, which focuses on finding work after being released.

About criminal records

  • Police records – Subject access requests – We’ve updated this page to reflect the changes that the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) have had on subject access requests, namely that they will now be free of charge.

Insurance

  • If you’ve got an unspent conviction you might want to think twice before using a comparison website for insurance – We all know how popular comparison websites are but, we’ve written an advice post setting out some of the problems you may encounter in using them if you’ve got an unspent conviction.

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 – I’m still struggling to get over my past but there’s help to improve my future – changes to filtering legislation – “I didn’t get into trouble with the law during my ‘youth’. However, aged 14 I was arrested and received a caution. Thinking back, it was around this time that I started binge drinking which began to cause me some problems …..”

Struggles and stigma – Responding to rejection – my email to a recruitment agency after being told I was unsuitable – “Like many of you who are reading this article, I’ve just had one of those ‘thanks but no thanks’ incidents following an interview arranged by a recruitment agency. I’ve had these types of responses before and felt upset, angry and deflated but this time, rather than just accept the contents, I thought it was important to respond …..”

Success – The differing attitudes of employers towards criminal records makes securing a job even harder – “My criminal record didn’t look great. Nothing more than shoplifting convictions but there were a lot of them. I imagine I’d be referred to as a serial offender. I won’t go into the details of why I received so many, my story is probably similar to a lot of other peoples who have issues with drugs or alcohol. Stealing became my only way of maintaining my habit …..” 

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.

Applying for a USA tourist visa  – There’s a lot of interesting information and advice on this thread which could be useful if you’re thinking of travelling to the US this summer.

Post Brexit – impact on travelling to Europe – Understandably, there’s still a lot of anxiety about travelling to Europe post-Brexit. Let us have your thoughts.

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.

New research finds thousands of people every year struggle because of youth criminal records from decades ago

We’ve just published some research on the impact of criminal records acquired in childhood and early adulthood. Download the report, A life sentence for young people.

Help us wipe DBS checks clean of old and minor criminal records – we need your help to challenge the government in the Supreme Court

We’ve launched a CrowdJustice appeal to help raise money to pay for our legal costs in intervening in the Supreme Court next month.

Unlock comment on Ministry of Justice’s Education and Employment Strategy

As the Ministry of Justice reveal their Education and Employment Strategy, read Unlock’s co-director, Christopher Stacey’s comments.

Monthly update – May 2018

We’ve just published our update for May 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. Some new information providing examples of self-disclosure statements/letters.
  2. A link to an advice post setting out the problems encountered when using a comparison website with an unspent conviction.
  3. A personal story on responding to a recruitment agency after being rejected for a job.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum on applying to the USA for a tourist visa.
  5. Details of our CrowdJustice appeal to help raise money to assist us in our intervening in the Supreme Court next month.

 

The full update provides a summary of:

  1. the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions
  2. recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord
  3. discussions on our online forum
  4. other news and developments that might be of interest to individuals with a criminal record

 

Read the May 2018 update in full.

 

Best wishes,

Unlock

 

Notes

  • All previous updates can be found in full in the ‘Latest updates‘ section of our Information Hub
  • For more self-help information, please visit unlock.devchd.com/information-and-advice/
  • If you have any questions about this information, please contact our helpline
  • 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.

 

If you’ve got an unspent conviction you might want to think twice before using a comparison website for insurance

We all know that using a comparison website is a really quick and easy way of getting a range of quotes for things like insurance or other utilities.

However, if you’ve got an unspent conviction then using a comparison website may not be the best option for you and we’d always advise that you contact insurers directly to get a quote.

Our helpline was contacted recently by a lady who’d used a comparison site to get a quote for motor insurance. She provided details of her partner’s unspent conviction as she wanted to add him to the policy, and was surprised to find that the premium was much less than she’d thought it would be.

The following day, the insurer cancelled her policy due to the non-disclosure of her partner’s criminal record and told her that when purchasing insurance in the future, she’d need to disclose not only the unspent conviction but also the fact that she’d had insurance cancelled due to non-disclosure.

We were able to help this lady prove to the insurer that the conviction had been disclosed as she’d kept screenshots from the comparison site’s application form. Following investigation it was found that some coding on the comparison site had been set to ignore some of the data which was passed to insurers; namely data relating to convictions.

Comparison sites earn their money based upon the number of quotes they generate. By omitting to provide insurers with details of someone’s criminal record, the insurer will be able to quote a lower price; the potential customer will be ‘hooked’ and will go ahead with the purchase. It’s only when the insurer checks the insurance databases that unspent convictions can come to light (for example, checking MyLicence for driving offences) and they may cancel your policy. If you’re unable to provide evidence that you did disclose then there is very little you’ll be able to do to have your policy reinstated.

If you’re having difficulty in getting insurance due to an unspent conviction then have a look at our list of motor insurers and  list of insurance brokers.

For more information

  1. For practical self-help information – More information is available on insurance and motoring offences
  2. Questions – If you have any questions about this, you can contact our helpline.

Examples of self-disclosure statements – Help us by sending us yours

Whenever you’re asked to disclose your criminal record to either an employer or university then discussing the details with them face-to-face is likely to be the most effective way.

However, there are a number of reasons why a self-disclosure statement can be a useful way of planning what you’re going to say and also, to leave with the employer/university as a record of what you’ve disclosed.

We’ve developed some new examples of self-disclosure statements /disclosure letters that can be used as guidance when writing your own.

We’re really keen to get your feedback on our four statements. Email us on feedback@unlock.org.uk.

We’d like to feature more examples – Send us yours

The examples we’ve developed are just the start. We’re really keen to show how good statements can vary in their style and approach. We think a really good way to do this is to get some real-life ones that have been used successfully.

So, if you’ve written your own statement which you went on to use and that resulted in you being offered a job, we’d love to see it.

We’re going to pull together a number of the examples we’re sent and then we’ll share them anonymously on our page on self-disclosure statements.

Send your examples, along with details of the job you applied for, to feedback@unlock.org.uk.

For more information

We want to make sure that our website is as helpful as possible.

Letting us know if you easily found what you were looking for or not enables us to continue to improve our service for you and others.

Was it easy to find what you were looking for?

Thank you for your feedback.

12.5 million people have criminal records in the UK. We need your help to help them.

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