Skip to main content
For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Author: Debbie Sadler

Monthly summary – July 2017

Welcome to our monthly summary for July 2017.

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

  • Disregards and pardons: Removing historical convictions and cautions for consensual gay sex from criminal records – We’ve updated this page to provide figures from the Home Office giving a breakdown of the number of disregard applications received since 2012 and details of the numbers which have been accepted or rejected.
  • Barring (Children’s Barred List and Adult’s Barred List) – Following an increased number of calls to our helpline from people who are being considered for barring by the DBS, we’ve reviewed this page to make it easier to navigate.
  • DNA retention – We’ve added some new links on this page to the National Police Chief’s Council guidance on the deletion of records from National Police systems.
  • Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO) – As a result of a Freedom of Information request made by the BBC, we’ve set out details of the number of CBO’s currently in place and which police forces they were issued by.

Work and volunteering

  • Are there advantages of disclosing your criminal record to your jobcentre/work programme provider – We’ve written an advice post which sets out the advantages of voluntarily disclosing details of your convictions if you’re not asked to do so.

Motoring offences

  • Hiring a car if you have a criminal record – We’ve produced a new, short information page on how a criminal record can impact on your ability to hire a car.

Criminal Justice System

  • Complaints about probation – As a result of changes to the Probation Service in 2015, we’ve incorporated some additional information to this page on making a complaint about a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC).

Quick links

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 – A long criminal record doesn’t have to stop you succeeding – My experience of working with young and vulnerable adults– ‘What can I say about my childhood – it wasn’t great to be honest. I was the middle of three kids, all born within 4 years of each other and my mum was a typical caring woman whilst my dad was a real disciplinarian (probably due to his having served in the army for many years) …..’

Struggles and stigma – Life after receiving a conviction for a sexual offence– ‘I was convicted of possessing a small number (not that numbers are important) of indecent images of children in 2016, following a search of my flat in 2014. The 22 months in between are indescribable. When my case eventually reached court, I was relieved that I wasn’t given a custodial sentence but my life had pretty much ended anyway …..’

Success – Banking on a new start – advice on opening a bank account with a criminal record– ‘For anybody that’s ever been to prison, you’ll know that all the time you’re there you lose all sense of personal identity and become a number for the duration of the stay …..’

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.

Welcome to theForum – Let’s be sociable! Introduce yourself – We’re really keen that our forum becomes an active online community. So whether you’ve only just joined or been a member for years, we’d like to know a bit more about you and what you’d like to get from the forum. Tell us about yourself.

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.

Summer 2017 Newsletter – What we’ve been up to

We’ve published our summer newsletter which provides an update on the news from Unlock in the last 3 months. A copy of the newsletter is available to download.

Some examples of people we’ve helped

We’ve written up some examples of people with convictions we’ve helped to overcome some of the barriers put in their way due to their criminal record. Read the case studies in full here.

Blog – Eastenders, DBS checks and decriminalised offences

Christopher Stacey’s latest blog looks at whether the supermarket in Eastenders broke the law in doing a DBS check and why a historic decriminalised offence was disclosed on his certificate.

New research about the impact of criminal records on women trying to exit prostitution

The charity nia, has just published its report ‘I’m no criminal’ which examines the impact of prostitution-specific criminal records on women seeking to exit prostitution. Read Christopher Stacey’s comments here.

Monthly update – July 2017

We’ve just published our update for July 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. Some new information on hiring a car if you have a criminal record
  2. Updated information on complaints about probation which includes advice on complaining about Community Resolution Companies (CRC’s)
  3. A personal story on working with young and vulnerable adults with a criminal record
  4. A link to a discussion inviting forum members to introduce themselves to each other
  5. Examples of people we’ve helped over the last three months.

 

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 July 2017 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.

 

Are there any advantages to disclosing your criminal record to your jobcentre/work programme advisor?

If you’re not asked about your criminal record then, legally, you don’t need to disclose any unspent convictions, but in our opinion, withholding this information means that your advisor may not be able to provide you with the best information, advice or service.

So, are there any other benefits in choosing to disclose?

The role of the jobcentre advisor is to support you back into employment. They will often have a good idea of the recruitment practices of local companies and how ‘friendly’ they are towards people with convictions. If your advisor has a good understanding of any potential problems you face in getting back into work (for example, an unspent conviction), they’ll be better placed to help you. You could even use this as an opportunity to test out your disclosure technique on your advisor.

Some companies have blanket bans on recruiting people with any unspent convictions, some ban people with certain types of offence. Failing the criminal record criteria isn’t going to secure you a job with these types of employers but, if you’ve not disclosed your conviction to your advisor and they believe you’ve got the relevant skills and experience, they’ll expect you to apply.

What if your conviction is spent?

For many jobs, you don’t need to disclose spent convictions. If these are the jobs you’re focusing on, you could choose to make that clear to your advisor in terms of your job search.

Some jobs, for example a cleaner in a school, are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and mean that you’ll need to disclose both spent and unspent convictions (unless it’s filtered). If you’re not comfortable in disclosing a spent conviction then, providing they know about it, your advisor can steer you away from applying for these types of jobs.

What else should you think about?

By voluntarily disclosing your criminal record, you’re placing a lot of trust in your advisor. However all advisors are bound by job centre confidentiality policies and the Data Protection Act.

Most advisors will welcome your honesty – it will make their job much easier and will hopefully help you both to establish a good working relationship.

If you choose to disclose your spent conviction and you’re only applying for jobs covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, make sure that your advisor knows that it’s for information purposes only and that there are only certain jobs where you’d need to disclose it.

For more information

  1. For practical self-help information – More information is available on our support getting into work, looking for (and keeping) employment and volunteering and disclosing to employers sections.
  2. Questions – If you have any questions about this, you can contact our helpline.

Will my criminal record cause me a problem if I want to hire a car?

With the summer fast approaching, you may be thinking about hiring a car to head off on your holidays. But, how likely are you to run into problems if you have a criminal record? We’ve just produced some new information which will hopefully clarify this for you.

Car rental companies in the UK are legally required to check your full driving licence before they will allow you to hire a car. So if you have an unspent motoring conviction it’s likely that you’ll find it more difficult to hire a car from one of the larger car hire companies.

It’s much better news if you have an unspent non-motoring conviction as very few hire companies will ask about these. However, we’d always recommend that you check the small print of any hire agreement or insurance documentation.

More information

  1. For practical information – More information on hiring a car if you have a criminal record, motoring offences and insurance
  2. To discuss this with others – Read and share your experience on our online forum
  3. Questions – If you have any questions about this you can contact our helpline.

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:

 

Christopher – Providing information to enable an individual to challenge an ineligible enhanced DBS check with their employer

Daniel – Google links were haunting me and keeping my conviction alive

Lucy – I lost a job because I didn’t realise the impact of a ‘relevant’ order

Paige – Nearly ‘sacked’ from being a trustee for failing to voluntarily disclose my conviction

Ryan – Suspended from my job because my employers didn’t understand the filtering legislation

Sadie – Stopped from continuing my education as a result of my partner’s conviction

Virginia – Filtering legislation means I still have to disclose my one conviction from 20 years ago

 

A huge thank you to all our volunteers

At the beginning of June we took the opportunity to say a huge “thank you” to all our wonderful volunteers by holding an afternoon tea-party.

 

The helpline team taking time out to celebrate volunteers week

 

 

Our volunteers are worth their weight in gold. They share their time and talent without any reward, so it was important to us to acknowledge their contributions and let them know they’re valued.

Our volunteer programme started in 2009 and enables us to give people with convictions the opportunity to gain new skills and confidence which they can hopefully use as a stepping-stone into education or employment.

Last year (2016/17) we supported 12 people as volunteers (10 office and 2 non-office based) but we’re always looking for more people to get involved.

If you’re interested in volunteering for us, please take a look at our current vacancies.

Monthly summary – June 2017

Welcome to our monthly summary for June 2017.

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

  • Applying to a court to end a court order – We’ve produced some new information which sets out the impact of having a court order (for example a restraining order or sexual offences prevention order) and how you can apply to have it varied or discharged.

Criminal record checks for employment

  • When would you need to disclose your spent conviction to an employer – We’ve written an advice post which provides examples of some jobs which appear on the DBS exemptions list and which would usually require you to disclose a spent conviction.

Universities and colleges

  • Applying to university – We’ve updated this page to provide some additional information on disclosure and the different types of criminal record checks that universities can do as well as advice on appealing a university’s decision if you are refused a place as a result of your criminal record.

Insurance

  • List of insurance brokers – We’ve just updated our list and added a further two brokers who can assist people with convictions to get insurance.

Financial issues

  • Getting a mortgage – We’ve just updated this page to provide an example of the wording that banks/building societies can use when asking about criminal convictions on their application forms.

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 – From prison to probation officer – securing a job as a probation officer with a criminal record – ‘Back in 2005 when I was about 16 years old my mum made the brave decision to move me and my younger brother from London to Wales. Although I’d never got into any serious trouble, I’d been hanging around with the ‘wrong crowd’ and had started to get more and more involved in the whole gang scene …..’

Struggles and stigma – Historic convictions – I’m letting them stop me from working because I’m too ashamed to disclose them – ‘I don’t want to tell you what you already know, but young people do stupid things. You know what they say “Your convictions will always follow you around”, “You’ll never get a good job” …..’

Success – Timpson’s gave me the key to unlock my future – ‘My name is Michaela and I’m an ex-offender. When I was 21 years old I was convicted of a drunken violent offence, which happened whilst I was a teenager. In a second, a mindless act changed so many lives. My actions were out of character however I knew I had caused another person serious harm and for that I was sorry and I knew I had to be punished …..’

News – Writing competition open to former prisoners – ‘The Prison Reform Trust have just launched their 2017 writing competition. The competition is open to prisoners, prisoners’ families and friends and former prisoners …..’

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.

An ex-employer has disclosed my ‘spent’ conviction – MrsB1981 is looking for some advice after her previous employer disclosed her spent conviction in a reference. Do you have any advice you can offer her?

Library assistant job – Davinci1 is looking to apply for a library assistant job in a university but is worried about the type of criminal record check the university will do. Have you had any experience of this type of university job?

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.

Has a criminal record in early adulthood held you back? We want to hear from you?

We’re looking to collect evidence that will help us to better understand the structural barriers that people face in dealing with a criminal record they got as a young adult. Find out how you can take part in our online survey.

‘Criminal record disclosure’ workshop – book now for our workshop on 4th October

As experts on criminal record disclosure, we provide high-quality training to front line practitioners to ensure they have accurate and up-to-date knowledge and skills when advising people with convictions. Find out how you can book your place.

 

Monthly update – June 2017

We’ve just published our update for June 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. Some new information setting out how to apply to a court to end a court order
  2. Updated information on applying to university in particular, advice on appealing a university’s decision if you’ve been refused a place as a result of your criminal record
  3. A personal story on securing a job as a probation officer with a criminal record
  4. A link to a discussion on how a previous employer disclosed details of a spent conviction in a reference to a new employer
  5. Details of an online survey set up to collect evidence of the barriers people face in dealing with a criminal record they got as a young adult.

 

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 2017 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.

 

Is it worth applying to have my court order varied or discharged?

Having a court order can have a devastating impact on your life, not just because of the prohibitions that they impose but because as long as they are in force, your conviction cannot be spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

We’ve produced some new information which sets out the impact of having a court order and how you can apply to have it varied or discharged.

If you believe that the conditions on your order are too restrictive, or your order has no end date, then it’s certainly worth considering applying to the court to have it varied or discharged completely.

Many people who have gone through the process have found that a successful outcome has made a significant difference to their quality of life and their ability to secure employment or college/university courses.

For more information

  1. For practical information – More information can be found on our section on applying to a court to end a court order, sexual offences and our page on long list of sentences/disposals and how long it takes for them to become spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
  2. Questions – If you have any questions about this you can contact our helpline.

When would you need to disclose your spent conviction to an employer?

Any organisation can apply for a basic criminal record check on members of their staff which will disclose unspent cautions/convictions. However, there are some jobs which would require you to disclose spent convictions.

Many people are aware that if they’re applying for a job which involves working with children or vulnerable adults, then they’ll need to disclose their spent convictions, unless they’re eligible for filtering. However, there are lots of other jobs where you’ll need to disclose your spent convictions which probably wouldn’t be immediately obvious.

Some of these jobs only ask that you disclose your conviction when entering the profession. Once you’ve qualified and start applying for jobs, employers will only be able to ask you about your unspent convictions and can only carry out a basic criminal record check. For example:

So, what other jobs might need you to disclose your spent conviction? The jobs we’ve listed below appear on the DBS exemptions list and will usually require you to undertake a standard Disclosure and Barring Service check:

  • Traffic wardens
  • Football stewards
  • Locksmiths who want to become members of the Master Locksmith’s Association
  • Mortgage brokers who have to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
  • Doorman/bouncers who require an SIA Licence.

If your employer is asking you to disclose your spent convictions or wants to carry out a check which you don’t believe they are entitled to do, then we’d like to hear from you. Find our further information here.

For more information

  1. For practical self-help information – More information is available on our criminal record checks for employment page
  2. Our policy work – Read about the policy work we’re doing on stopping unlawful/ineligible DBS checks
  3. Questions – If you have any questions about this you can contact our helpline.

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.

Help support us now