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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Author: Debbie Sadler

Monthly update – May 2020

We’ve just published our update for May 2020.

This months update includes:

  1. New information on applying for an anonymity order if you’re considering bringing a claim against an employer at an employment tribunal.
  2. An update to our page on Covid-19 – Key information for people with criminal records to reflect the amended restrictions now that lock-down has started to ease.
  3. A personal story from an individual who successfully applied for a volunteering role with the Samaritans with an unspent conviction.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum from an individual looking for advice on moving abroad whilst on the Sex Offenders Register.
  5. Details of a survey being carried out by Unlock to help us have a better understanding of the challenges being faced by people with a criminal record as a result of Covid-19.

 

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 2020 update in full.

Best wishes,

Unlock

Notes

Been unfairly treated by your employer? Employment tribunals and anonymity orders

In many cases, somebody who has been wrongly or unfairly treated by their employer can make a claim at an employment tribunal where a Tribunal Panel will make a decision on what settlement, if any, you should receive.

However, since 2017 employment tribunal decisions have been published online which means that the names of anyone making a claim (together with the other parties involved), may show up on an internet search.

For anybody that has a criminal record, the idea that details of their conviction (including a spent conviction) could be disclosed will be enough to stop them bringing a case.

So, is there any way to stop this information going online?

The simple answer is ‘no’. However, Employment Tribunal Rules allow tribunals to make orders which prevent or restrict the public disclosure of any aspect of those proceedings. These are referred to as an anonymity order.

We’ve produced some new information on applying for an anonymity order which sets out the application process and also provides details of things to include in your application to increase your chances of success.

More information

Applied to the NHS volunteer responder scheme and used your DBS check as identity?

So far approximately 750,000 people have volunteered for the NHS volunteer responder scheme which was set up to help provide support to vulnerable adults who are self-isolating.

The voluntary roles available include:

  • Community Response
  • Patient Transport
  • Check in and Chat

The scheme is being coordinated by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS).

Guidance from RVS states that patient transport roles are the only ones which require an enhanced DBS check. Applicants could however provide any level of DBS certificate as identification for any role (including non-patient transport ones). Where applicants did this, it was assumed that the certificate would only be used for ID purposes and any other information on the certificate would be disregarded.

We were made aware that this was not always the case and that applications for non-patient transport roles were being refused verification due to criminal record information on the DBS certificate. We contacted RVS to raise our concerns.

RVS responded very quickly stating that they had carried out a review of why certain applications had been refused. As a result of this, it had come to light that:

In some cases, a risk assessment based on criminal record data included on a DBS check and, provided for ID purposes, may have been undertaken in relation to non-patient transport roles”.

RVS have confirmed to us that:

  • DBS certificates will no longer be used as valid forms of ID for application purposes; and
  • All DBS checks previously provided for the purposes of ID, which contain certain criminal conviction data, but which do not relate to an exempt role will be deleted, and where necessary, alternative forms of ID will be requested.

As a result of the high numbers of application, recruitment has been temporarily paused but RVS have encouraged anybody whose previous application could not be verified, to re-apply once the registration page re-opens using an alternative form of identification.

A comment from Unlock

If you have applied for a non-patient transport role and provided a DBS certificate as proof of ID, it would have been a reasonable expectation that your criminal record would not be used against you, and it’s disappointing to find that this has not always been the case.

However, it was encouraging to see RVS respond so quickly to the issues raised and to then implement new practices.

If you have previously failed the verification process, we would encourage you to re-apply once recruitment re-opens.

Monthly summary – April 2020

Welcome to our monthly summary for April 2020.

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 stumbled across this? You can receive these updates 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 information hub. 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.

About criminal records

  • Covid-19 (coronavirus) – Key information for people with a criminal record – We’ve produced some new information which sets out the latest information and advice on Covid-19 and how it impacts on those with a criminal record.
  • International Child Protection Certificate (for working overseas) – This page has been updated to reflect how certain offences can be ‘stepped down’ resulting in a certificate only showing ‘No live trace’ instead of disclosing details of a caution/conviction.

Work and volunteering

  • Working in Government – Security vetting/Security clearance – We’ve updated this page to include a link to an example of a CTC/SC questionnaire.

Housing

  • Moving on: Homelessness and leaving prison – We’ve written a further article for InsideTime which provides information on what steps to take if you’re likely to be homeless upon your release from prison.

theRecord posts

Below are links to recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord. These are often linked to the practical information that we have, to help give some personal experiences.

Struggles and stigma – “Don’t believe everything you read” – Getting a visa from the US Embassy in Belfast is no guarantee – “Last year I visited the US Embassy in Belfast to apply for a US holiday visa. Because of the work I do, I couldn’t afford to take the risk of lying on the online ESTA form but I’d read that my chances of getting a visa would be better in Ireland than in London …..”

Success – “Acceptance was the answer to my problems” – Getting into university with an unspent conviction – “I’m so pleased to be writing this and able to say that I’ve just been accepted at university to study for a Masters despite having an unspent conviction …..”

Success – Don’t be bitter, just be better – “Like so many people who’ve been locked up under an indeterminate sentence, I became very bitter and resentful. This was mostly because I knew that there was (and is) nothing ‘dangerous’ about me. I knew that if I posed a danger to anyone, I posed a danger only to myself …..”

Discussions on our online forum

Below are links to recent posts on 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.

Possible future step-grandchildren – who do I need to disclose to? – DekaRed is currently on the SOR and is looking for some clarification on who he needs to disclose his conviction to if he starts a new relationship with a lady who has grandchildren. Can anybody advise him?

Get out of lock-down free pass (to see a probation officer) – Alexh07 is interested to know what people’s experience has been of probation appointments during the Covid-19 lock-down. Let us know what arrangements your probation office has put in place.

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.

Spring 2020 Newsletter – What we’ve been up to

We’ve published our spring 2020 newsletter which provides an update on the news at Unlock in the last 3 months.

Monthly update – April 2020

We’ve just published our update for April 2020.

This months update includes:

  1. New information setting out the latest information and advice on Covid-19 and how it impacts on those with a criminal record.
  2. An update to our page on Working in Government – security vetting/security clearance which provides an example of the CTC/SC questionnaire.
  3. A personal story from an individual who secured a job with the Civil Service after serving a 12 year prison sentence.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum highlighting individuals different experiences of probation appointments during the Covid-19 lock-down.
  5. A link to our spring 2020 newsletter which provides an update on the news at Unlock in the last 3 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 April 2020 update in full.

Best wishes,

Unlock

Notes

Covid-19 (coronavirus) – Key information for people with criminal records

Covid-19 and the social distancing measures introduced to help control it are creating challenges for all of us. For people with criminal records, these challenges can be particularly difficult to overcome.

Since the UK went into lock-down, we’ve been contacted by many people with criminal records – those with criminal records in the community, people in prison and people who are subject to licence or community orders – concerned about what Covid-19 means in terms of their criminal record. 

We’ve produced some new information for people with a criminal record which tries to answer some of the common questions we’re coming across. We may not have all the answers – this situation is new to us too – but we will be regularly updating it to ensure it has the latest information and advice on Covid-19 and how it impacts on those with a criminal record.

We have also started to bring together the emerging issues faced by people with criminal records. These include employment, housing and education, as well as DBS checks and supervision arrangements. We are looking carefully at the policy implications of Covid-19 and the social distancing rules, and at how these might affect people with criminal records in the future. You can read more here. We will keep this page under review and update this as things change.

We want our information and policy work to accurately reflect the challenges you’re facing and we need your help to do that by completing a short survey. With this evidence, we can raise the issues and call for solutions.

Complete the survey here. 

More information

Moving on: Homelessness and leaving prison

This month we’ve written a further article for Inside Time ‘Through the Gate’ section which provides information on homelessness and leaving prison.

People leaving prison are often at high risk of homelessness. You may have been homeless before entering prison but you could find that your criminal record will be a further barrier to finding the right sort of accommodation upon release. If you don’t qualify for housing from a local authority then the delay in receiving the housing element of Universal Credit often means that you’ll be unable to secure accommodation with a private landlord.

However, statistics show that nearly 2 out of every 5 people will need help in finding a place to live when leaving prison, and 3 in 5 say that having somewhere to live is important in stopping them reoffending. With a national shortage of housing stock, most councils have very strict criteria on who is eligible for housing and far too often people leave prison without having a permanent home to go to. Government figures show fewer than half of prisoners released between October 2016 and January 2018 went out to settled accommodation; and there was a 20-fold increase in people sleeping rough.

The Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force in October 2018, has put an obligation on prisons to have a system in place to identify anybody who will be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless well in advance of their release date and to then refer them to their local authority. Many prisons will use the service of outside agencies to do this for them.

Initially, the prison/agency will need to determine which local authority you’ll come under. They’ll do this by establishing where you have a local connection; this could be somewhere that you’ve lived or worked previously or where you have a family association. Being in prison won’t establish you as being resident within the area that the prison is situated.

Once a referral has been made to a local authority, an assessment will be carried out. It’s important to know that not everybody who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless will be entitled to accommodation. However, everybody is entitled to advice from a housing service.

The assessment will take into account details of:

  1. The circumstances that led to you being homeless or threatened with homelessness;
  2. Your housing needs – what accommodation would be suitable for you and anybody that you reside with; and
  3. What support would be necessary for you to be able to retain suitable accommodation.

At the end of the assessment, a housing plan will be put together which sets out any steps you’re required to take for the purposes of securing and retaining suitable accommodation. This might include things like agreeing to get debt advice if, for example, you have rent arrears. The plan will also include details of the things that the council have to do to help you.

If you’re homeless this could include:

  • Helping you get emergency housing such as a hostel;
  • Giving you details of landlords who are willing to accept anybody on benefits;
  • Checking whether you can get help with rental costs;
  • Helping you to find a private rented home – for example by helping you with a deposit or rent in advance.

The council will expect you to follow the steps set out to find accommodation for yourself. The assumption is that you’ll accept accommodation offered to you, unless you have extremely good grounds for refusing. If the council believe that you’ve ‘deliberately and unreasonably refused’ to cooperate with your plan then you’ll be given a ‘warning’ setting out the reasons for the ‘failure to cooperate’ and providing you with details of what will happen if you continue to refuse to follow the steps set out. This could be removing you from the council’s housing list.

The government has said that it is addressing the issue of people being released from prison without accommodation in its rough sleeping strategy, which aims to eliminate all rough sleeping by 2027. However, this is still a long way off and for now, we’d recommend that if you are likely to be homeless upon your release, you make this known to the relevant department in the prison – and to your OM – as soon as possible.

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:

 

Caleb – Knowing that it was possible to challenge an ineligible criminal record check led to me getting a job in the NHS

Felix – I’m now working in my dream job thanks to the information and support I was given by Unlock

Thea – “Clear wording on application forms means applicants know what to disclose”

Wes – Having a better understanding of how much access an employer could have to my criminal record gave me the confidence to challenge an employer’s request 

 

 

 

Monthly summary – March 2020

Welcome to our monthly summary for March 2020.

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 stumbled across this? You can receive these updates 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 updates that we’ve made recently to the information hub. 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 links to threads on our online forum where you can discuss these with other people.

Work and volunteering

  • Types of criminal record checks – We’ve updated this page to include details of the number of criminal record checks carried out each year and the percentage of checks which disclose some type of information relating to cautions/convictions.
  • The Ministry of Justice are piloting a new ‘disclosure checker’ and want your feedback – We’ve provided links to the new MOJ disclosure checker and would encourage as many people as possible to provide their feedback.

About criminal records

  • Sex offence notification requirements – We’ve added a new section to this page on what you can do if your request to have your indefinite notification requirement revoked is refused by the police.

theRecord posts

Below are links to recent posts on our online magazine, theRecord. These are often linked to the practical information that we have to help give some personal experiences.

Success – I’ve been fortunate that my stupidity hasn’t been held against me – “I left home at the age of 16 and for the next two years stayed with one of my best mates and his family. By the time I was 18 I was holding down a job and had managed to rent my own home. I had some good mates and every now and again I did what every 18 year old does, I met up with friends, had a few too many drinks and got drunk …..”

Struggles and stigma – Should my past forever define who I am? – “Back in 2011 as a 21 year old man I got into an illegal and immoral “relationship” (I use the quotes because I now see that relationship isn’t the right word for this) with a child aged 13. You might ask why? You might ask how? – none of that matters because the fact is I was guilty …..”

Success – I thought “offenders” were different to me until my friend received a criminal record – “I’ve been running my own hairdressing business for approximately 25 years now and, I’m happy to say that it’s very successful. I’m based in a town which is close to a men’s open prison and over the years several men have been in touch with me asking whether I have any vacancies for paid work …..”

News – Need some support in these testing times? Why not join Unlock’s online forum – “As a way of tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, the country has been challenged to undertake self-isolation and social distancing. Although we all appreciate why it’s so important to reduce the spread of the infection, for many this will be a particularly stressful and isolating time …..”

Discussions on our online forum

Below are links to recent posts on 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.

Volunteering in Coronavirus outbreak! – JASB has highlighted some of the problems that people with a criminal record may come up against if they’re interested in signing up for volunteering opportunities. Tell us about your experiences, both positive and negative.

Sites that repurpose criminal conviction information and GDPR – Zack is interested to know whether sites which use details of an individual’s criminal record to create ‘databases’ could be stopped by using GDPR legislation. Let us know 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.

Job vacancy – Fundraising Manager – Trusts and Foundations (part-time)

We’re looking for a professional fundraiser with a strong track record of grant income generation to join our small and friendly team in Maidstone.

Our response to Covid-19

In response to government advice on Covid-19, we made the decision to close the Unlock office on 17 March. We will be working from home and you can still get in touch with us in the usual way.

Northern Ireland makes changes to the disclosure of conviction and cautions in response to Supreme Court ruling

The Department of Justice in Northern Ireland has announced that it was making changes to what is disclosed on standard and enhanced criminal record checks, in response to the Supreme Court ruling in January 2010. Read more about this and what you can do to push for change in England and Wales.

Unlock’s guest post for the Cabinet Office’s Life Changes blog

Unlock has contributed a guest post on the government’s Going Forward into Employment blog. Read it here.

Monthly update – March 2020

We’ve just published our update for March 2020.

This months update includes:

  1. An update to our page on types of criminal record checks to include details of the number of checks carried out in a year and the percentage of these that disclose information relating to cautions/convictions.
  2. A personal story from an employer whose attitude towards “offenders” changed after their friend received a criminal record.
  3. An article outlining the benefits of sharing experiences and receiving support from online communities such as the Unlock forum.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum highlighting some of the issues faced by people with a criminal record who are interested in volunteering.
  5. Details of a job vacancy at Unlock for a Fundraising Manager.

 

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 March 2020 update in full.

Best wishes,

Unlock

Notes

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