Category: News on other policy

Taxi! New guidance for licensing authorities recommends exclusions for even minor convictions

In July 2020 the Department for Transport published new guidance for statutory taxi and private hire vehicles licensing authorities. This followed a consultation in April 2019 to gather views on the recommendations and draft statutory guidance. Recommendations included that licensees undergo enhanced DBS and barring list checks and minimum exclusion periods by offence category and our response focused on those exclusions.

Passengers getting into a taxi or PHV are placing themselves in the hands of the driver and it’s right that licensing decisions take into account all relevant information. The problem is, the draft guidance didn’t advise taking into account all relevant information. Instead, it proposed a blanket approach based on broad offence categories. The guidance was based on the Institute of Licensing’s 2018 recommendations which emphasised the need to consider individual circumstances but then went on to propose blanket exclusions based on broad offence categories, along with lengthy exclusion periods.

Unfortunately, the final version of the guidance includes the same offence categories and exclusion periods recommended in 2018. The long exclusion periods are not scaled to the circumstances or gravity of an offence – a person convicted of possession of a firearm will be refused a licence for seven years, the same as a person who over-claimed benefits. An applicant with a conviction for common assault where the victim sustained no injuries would be treated the same as a serious assault in which a victim required surgery and refused a licence for at least 10 years.

Department for Transport has published a summary of responses to the consultation and acknowledged that

The proportionality of some of the baseline exclusion periods was questioned by some respondents, as was the range of offences that would fall under a particular heading.

However, they went on to say that:

The final version provides additional clarity and reinforces that the decision as to whether a person who has convictions should be licensed is and will remain dependent on the individual circumstance of each case.

Licensing authorities are not bound by the guidance but it would be a brave authority that would strike out on its own. Indeed, the president of the Institute of Licensing, James Button, is keen for the guidance to become law. In a comment to the Daily Mirror, he said:

In most authorities, when someone has previous convictions which fall outside that council’s policy, the decision is made by councillors. They can be swayed by sob stories. It has always surprised me why there is acceptance of a level of criminality among a significant minority of the taxi trade.

We can’t be sure what Mr Button would consider ‘a sob story’ but the proposed exclusions would mean a woman with childhood convictions for soliciting, as a result of child sexual exploitation would be treated the same as a man with a recent conviction for rape, and prevented from ever obtaining a licence. That same woman, if she had convictions for possession of a weapon or affray, would be refused a licence for a minimum of 7 to 10 years after the conviction, regardless of the circumstances. One such woman, Sammy Woodhouse, bravely waived her right to anonymity and spoke out on behalf of others still having to disclose criminal records acquired as a result of their abuse. Ironically, the guidance also recommends that drivers are trained in safeguarding and spotting signs of criminal or sexual exploitation.

In principle, a national framework can help with consistency – and let applicants know what to expect. We support clear guidelines to assist licensing authorities. This guidance, if taken up by local authorities, means law abiding people with convictions are likely to be unnecessarily excluded from the trade for years, or indefinitely. That has a ripple effect, reinforcing the idea that everyone with a conviction is a danger to the public. Thankfully this is not true – there 11 million people in the UK with a criminal record – about 1 in 6 of the population. Most want to move on positively with their lives, and they deserve a fair chance to do that.

Written by Rachel Tynan, Policy and practice lead at Unlock

From inmates to entrepreneurs

Last month, the Centre for Entreprenuers (CfE) published some brilliant research, From inmates to entreprenuers, looking at the role of setting up businesses and how they can help to break the cycle of reoffending.

We were pleased to support the research by carrying out a survey alongside the CfE which had 158 responses from people with convictions in the community.

As part of the research, 83% said that having a criminal record made it harder to start a business, with 89% saying it made it harder to get insurance for your business.

I was asked to provide a comment for the report. I explained how we know that people with convictions face significant stigma and discrimination from employers as a direct result of their criminal record. Although more work needs to be done on combating this, entrepreneurship is an important alternative that, for some, is the right path towards a productive life as a law-abiding member of society. This research is an important contribution to this area and makes recommendations at both a strategic and operational level to maximise the opportunity that entrepreneurship provides people in achieving their potential.

Written by Christopher Stacey, Co-director of Unlock

Unlock responds to review of education in prison

In September, Michael Gove announced a review of education in adult prisons.

Unlock as a charity focuses on the problems that people face as a result of their criminal record. We do not provide education in prisons or in the community to individuals. However, we run a Helpline that deals with over 5,000 people with convictions each year. We also run training for practitioners, including prison education providers, on criminal record disclosure.

As a result of this work, we believe we have some valuable comments to make to this consultation process, particularly in ensuring that people leaving prison are properly prepared for life with a criminal record through improved education in prison.

You can download our response to the review here.

Have you been blocked from working in probation/prison because of your criminal record?

You should be able to find out more about this below. Depending on your settings, you may have to click on this link.

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Raising awareness in prisons of changes to the ROA

We’re continuing our efforts to raise awareness of the changes to the ROA, but this time we’ve been focusing on prisons.

Firstly, we wrote a news piece for the March 2014 edition of Inside Time. A copy of the news piece is below.

We’ve also recorded a piece for the Prison Radio Associations’ ‘Outside In’ programme, which is done in partnership with Radio 4 and recorded by former prisoners. A copy of the audio will be available here shortly.

Successes in getting visas to travel to the US

This is taken from an update to our Information Hub

As part of our attempts to make sure this Hub reflects the genuine experiences of people with convictions, we want to make sure that were highlighting some key examples which we think are relevant to people making use of this site

One particular update that we’ve made today is to include a couple of positive experiences that we’ve had reported to us, where people have been granted a visa to travel to the US.

We have updated the Travelling to America section, but have copied their experiences below;

“I received a caution for possession of a controlled substance (Class A) in 2009. By mid-2010, I had applied for and been granted a visa which was valid for 10 years. I went suited and booted and they just asked me whether I was still misusing drugs. I think possession is extremely minor in the spectrum of drugs-related offences”

“I had visa interview this morning (Paris Embassy) and was granted. Passport coming back end of week. My record – 2 arrests – 1 caution for D&D in 2005, 1 for ABH in 2010 which resulted in 10-week tag, 260 hours community service, £400 fine from Magistrates.

I applied for B1/B2 visa from US Embassy in Paris, as currently at university in France. Filled in standard visa application, whereby I declared both caution and conviction. I also got ACPO certificate but this is not mandatory for visas from France. Booked appointment online, and turned up with confirmation of payment, Stamped Addressed Envelope, photos, etc.

Arrived at 0730 (smartly dressed in suit and tie!), given a number, and gave all docs for registration. about 20 mins later, was called to a screen with US immigration officer. There was no private room, just a rank of booths not unlike a bank branch. She asked me what I was doing in France, what I wanted to go to the US for, and how was I going to finance it. I gave her a copy of my uni course confirmation, and my bank statements.

She then asked me to give more detail about the 2 arrests / convictions which I did, and also handed over the ACPO certificate. After she tapped away on a computer for a bit, she then said “I just have to go and check something”, and 5 minutes later she came back and said, “Everything is fine, and you’ll get your passport back with the visa in 2-3 days”.

Total time at Embassy – 1 hour. Obviously there will be some minor procedural differences between Paris and London, but the key takeaway is that the system can work, and the bureaucracy not be so bad. Clearly it’s not all quite there, as I won’t believe the final hurdle is overcome until I set foot on American soil. It’s a major weight off my mind, however.”

Should former offenders be employed to mentor ex-prisoners?

We’ve given an interview on BBC Radio Wales to discuss Government plans to have former offenders as mentors.

You can listen to the interview below.

Banking before release

We’ve written a letter in this month’s edition of Inside Time, the prison newspaper, updating people on the progress of our Unlocking Banking project.

You can read the letter here.

Immigration and nationality decisions are now exempt from the ROA

This update is taken from our Information Hub

As of the 1st October 2012, changes made through the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (s.140 in particular) mean that immigration or nationality decision making, including initial decisions and any subsequent proceedings, are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that spent convictions can also be considered as part of these processes. This includes convictions obtained before October 2012.

It does not, however, affect any proceedings which began before October 2012 (or decisions made but not finally determined).

Please note: At the time of writing, the UKBA’s website has yet to be amended to reflect the above changes, and hence references to the ROA still remain in our own information above. This will be amended in due course, in line with changes to the UKBA website. It is possible, for example, that the UKBA will set their own guidelines for disregarding certain convictions. Check out our Coming to the UK section for the last information.

All these changes mean is that the UKBA now has the freedom to take into account spent convictions. The UKBA are yet to publish their own guidelines on how they intend to put this possibility into operation.

A useful article on this change is available from the Immigration Lawyers Gherson.

Travelling to the UK, and should reformed offenders be given a second chance?

The news that prospective Coventry Blaze ice hockey team player Mike Denton has been refused a visa to enter the country because of his criminal conviction, sparks the debate of whether reformed offenders should be given a second chance.

We contribute to a discussion on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. You can listen to the interview below.