“We must stop treating a person’s past as a weapon to be used against them forever. Louise Haigh made a mistake more than a decade ago, received a minor sentence and has had no further convictions. As a public servant Louise assists thousands of her constituents every year and speaks up for them in Parliament. She has demonstrated through her life and public service that people are capable of learning, changing and moving forward.

“Her conviction is spent. This means that, except in defined circumstances, she is legally entitled not to disclose it. That principle lies at the heart of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974: once someone has completed their sentence and the relevant rehabilitation period, they should be able to rebuild their life without being permanently defined by one past mistake.

“When Louise is publicly attacked and labelled because of a spent criminal record, the consequences reach far beyond one politician. Millions of people with criminal records see what happens to her and shrink back from civic participation, public service and positions of responsibility. They fear that, however much they contribute and however long they live without further trouble, their past may one day be exposed and used to shame them.

“There are around 12.4 million people in the UK with some form of criminal record. Are we really saying that they should all be excluded from public life or forced to carry their worst moment forever?

“Rehabilitation must mean more than completing a sentence. It must include the possibility of acceptance, dignity and redemption. Louise Haigh deserves the opportunity to live beyond a single mistake and to be judged on the person she is today.

“It is time to lift the long shadow of the criminal record and act in accordance with both the letter and the spirit of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.”

In late June, nineteen Unlock Leaders gathered at Brandon Hall Hotel and Spa in Coventry for the first residential retreat of the Unlock Leadership Programme 2026. What happened over those three days was more than any of us had dared to plan for.

The retreat was built around the programme’s central theme ‘We Know What Change Looks Like’ and from the moment people arrived, it became clear that the most important content was already in the room. In the sessions, over dinner, in the corridors late into the evening, and in the quiet moments between, something was forming. A community was finding itself.

Participants heard from Dr Gill Buck on the history of the movement they have inherited. They heard from Anne Fox, incoming Chair of Unlock’s board of trustees, in a keynote that held the room in a kind of awed silence. And they heard from Kofi Danso of the Incarcerated Nations Network, joining virtually from South Africa, on the global scale of the change they are already part of.

Between those moments came workshops that crackled with energy, laughter that carried across the whole building, and conversations that went on long after the programme had ended for the day. People who had never met found each other. Stories were shared that had never been shared before. Connections were made that will outlast the programme itself.

On Sunday morning, every participant wrote a personal leadership commitment and read it aloud to the group in the grounds. The space was very still. It was one of those moments you do not forget.

The Unlock Leaders are on their way.

At our inaugural presidential lecture in Lincoln’s Inn, we launched our new five-year strategy.

Aimed at dismantling the long shadow of criminal records, by combining Unlock’s direct support, advocacy, lived experience leadership, and imaginative, forward-looking thinking, we will create a society where rehabilitation is meaningful and visible.

Unlock exists to address the enduring impact of criminal records, which continue to shape people’s lives long after a sentence has been served. We recognise that current systems; particularly disclosure regimes, employer practices and public stigma, create ongoing barriers to opportunity, dignity and belonging.

Unlock’s vision is of a society where individuals are not permanently defined by past mistakes, and where growth, rehabilitation and change are recognised in practice. Our vision is rooted in fairness, inclusion and the belief that people should be able to move forward into work, education, family life and civic participation.

You can read the 2026-31 strategy here.

With colleagues across the youth justice sector, Unlock have written to Steve Reed MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, calling for him to scrap Clause 2 of the Representation of the People Bill.

The Representation of the People Bill will extend the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds, however Clause 2 of the Bill will block 16- and 17-year-olds serving a sentence in youth detention from voting.

With 610 young people serving a sentence in youth detention, the message this sends to hundreds of vulnerable young people is clear: politics does not care about you.

As well as further marginalising already marginalised communities, removing the right to vote at a young age cuts civic connections and harms rehabilitation at the time it is most needed.

You can read our letter to the Secretary of State in full here.

For joining us in signing this letter we would like to thank Transform Justice, the Howard League for Penal Reform, JENGbA, SHiFT, Why me?, the Black Equity Organisation, the Children’s Society, Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Centre for Mental Health, Dr Danica Darley, and Professor Kathryn Hollingsworth.

You can read more about our Unlock the Vote campaign and our report ‘Why Prisoner Voting Matters’ here.

The government have this week published their Youth Justice White Paper which sets out their plans for reform of the youth justice system. Included in this is a commitment to consulting on reform to childhood criminal records this year.

Our criminal records system is in urgent need of reform. Many people who have only ever had minor interactions with the criminal justice system have criminal records that affect job opportunities, volunteering roles, housing rights and even travel, sometimes for life.

As part of the FairChecks campaign in partnership with Transform Justice, Unlock have long campaigned for a fairer criminal records regime. This outdated system needs to be changed and Unlock welcomes the government’s commitment in this White Paper to consult on childhood criminal records reform by the end of the year. We look forward to working with the government on this consultation.

Paula Harriott, Chief Executive of Unlock said,

“For too long people have been held back by mistakes they made as children, limiting their potential and stopping them contributing their skills to society. It is right that the government have committed to consulting on childhood criminal records reform in their Youth Justice White Paper. We welcome this and are looking forward to working with the government on these reforms.”

Unlock will continue to monitor this closely and will feed into the government’s consultation once open.

Unlock have submitted a new clause on reporting around spent convictions to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) for consideration to their Editors’ Code of Practice. IPSO is the largest regulator of newspaper, magazine, and digital news in the UK.

This follows the publication of Unlock’s report ‘The Right to be Forgotten’, which highlighted how information about spent convictions can remain visible indefinitely in news articles, search engines, and social media. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) most offences have a rehabilitation period, after which they become spent and no longer need to be ordinarily declared. However, employers, education providers, and others can now easily discover information online that they might not lawfully receive via a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

If approved by the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee the new clause would recommend that, once a conviction becomes spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, all identifying information about the ex-offender should be anonymised in any news articles relating to the spent offence.

IPSO are reviewing their Editors’ Code of Practice with the Committee currently considering this clause and other submissions.

Click here to read more about Unlock’s report on ‘The Right to be Forgotten’.

Anne Fox has been announced as Unlock’s new Chair of Trustees. Anne succeeds Faye Goldman who served as Chair and eight years as a trustee at Unlock and leaves with our heartfelt thanks for eight years of service. Anne brings a wealth of experience of leadership in the voluntary sector, having led Clinks, the national infrastructure charity supporting voluntary organisations working with people in the criminal justice system in England and Wales for the past ten years.

Anne is passionate about the power and potential of the voluntary sector and enabling it to be an effective source of essential support for people who deserve every chance of a bright future. She is committed to the full inclusion of people with criminal records and anti-racism.

On Anne’s appointment, Unlock’s CEO Paula Harriott said:

“Anne Fox’s appointment as Chair of Unlock marks an exciting new chapter for the organisation. With over a decade of leadership as CEO of Clinks, she brings deep expertise, credibility, and a strong commitment to strengthening the voluntary sector and amplifying lived experience. Her track record of championing collaboration and influencing system change positions Unlock well to grow its impact and continue driving forward fairer opportunities for people with criminal records.”

Speaking following the recent board meeting, Anne Fox said:

“I am absolutely delighted to be stepping into the Chair role at Unlock, a charity I’ve admired for over 10 years, a charity that’s as vital and needed as it was 25 years ago. I’m excited to work with Paula Harriott, the board, staff team and the people at the heart of everything Unlock does, people with criminal records.”

As part of the government’s inquiry into the causes of youth unemployment, FairChecks have submitted evidence showing the link between criminal records and youth unemployment.

The review, for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, will look into the drivers behind the increase of young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

A significant barrier that many young people face is the long shadow of a criminal record. Our submission to the inquiry highlights evidence that shows:

• The number of DBS checks is increasing (7.2 million in 2024-25) at a time when more employers (30%) are saying that they would automatically exclude a candidate who declared an unspent conviction.
• This disproportionality affects young people, with more checks being undertaken on young people (18-25) than other age groups.
• The majority of checks which revealed some form of childhood offence only revealed childhood offences. So in most of these cases, those who had offended as a child had not offended as an adult. Again this affects young people more as they are closer to the age of any childhood offence, and are there more likely to have an offence revealed on a DBS check.

We have therefore made recommendations to the inquiry to give more young people the opportunity to fulfill their potential. These include:

• Wiping the slate clean for childhood offences at a specific interval.
• No automatic disclosure of cautions.
• Short and suspended sentences be removed from Enhanced checks after a set number of years.

You can read our full submission here.

FairChecks is a movement led by Unlock and Transform Justice. Read more about FairChecks here.