For people with criminal records
We’ve contributed to an article in Prospect Magazine, which used the recent cases of Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce as a way of looking at some of the longer-term effects of a criminal record.
You can read the article here. There is also a list of interesting comments at the bottom of the article.
Today we’ve written to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee to raise our concerns with the Order which sets out how the DBS filtering process will work.
You can download the letter to read the details of our concerns.
A new study published by the University of Portsmouth looks at the discrimination faced by young offenders from poor backgrounds.
We discuss this in an interview on BBC London, which you can listen to below.
We’ve given an interview to BBC West Midlands, talking about the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
You can listen to the interview below.
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.
Unlock, the national charity for people with convictions, has today welcomed Government proposals which, if introduced, would mean that some old and minor cautions and convictions will no longer be disclosed on standard and enhanced level criminal record checks, carried out for employers by the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS).
In January 2013, the Court of Appeal found that the current system of disclosing all convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings, no matter how old or minor, was not compatible with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act (the right to a private and family life). The Government has filed an application for permission to appeal against this ruling, so for the time being the system stays unchanged. But, in response to the judgement itself, the Government has put forward a filtering process. The changes would not come into force until after the legislation has completed its passage through Parliament.
For adults with a conviction, it would not be disclosed if (a) the conviction was more than 11 years ago, (b) it is the only conviction on record, and (b) it did not result in a prison sentence. Serious violent and sexual offences would continue to be disclosed. For adults with cautions, they will not be disclosed if (a) the caution was more than 6 years ago and (b) it is not in the list of serious violent and sexual offences. For people under 18 at the time, the periods would be 5 and half years for a conviction, and 2 years for cautions.
Christopher Stacey, Unlock’s Director of Services, who advised the Government in 2011 as part of an expert panel set up by the Home Office to look at this issue, said, “Since 2002, more and more employers have been using standard and enhanced level checks as a reason for not employing people with old and minor offences on their record. The current system discloses minor cautions and convictions until a person’s 100th birthday, and our peer-helpline regularly deals with people whose minor convictions from, in many cases, more than 20 years ago stop them from getting work in the profession they’re qualified and experienced in. In 2011, we provided the Government with clear proposals on how a filtering system could work. Although today’s proposals don’t go as far as we would like, the acceptance that there should in fact be a more balanced approach to disclosing convictions is an important step forward, and we hope that this system can be introduced as soon as possible.”
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We’ve contributed to a discussion on BBC Essex, looking at the news that Harlow Council is seeking to amend their housing allocations policy which would mean that people with convictions would be banned from join the housing list.
You can listen to the interview below.
The was followed by an article in the Guardian, which we were cited in. Interestingly, it also included a Poll which asked “should criminals be excluded from applying for social housing?”. The results were that 72% said “No”, they shouldn’t.
Linked to our press release on the recent Court of Appeal decision around CRB checks, we’ve given radio interviews to Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio Wales.
Both are these can be listened to below.
Unlock, the charity for people with convictions, has welcomed Lord Dyson’s remarks which support their continued call for changes to how the UK treats criminal record information. At a hearing at the Court of Appeal today the Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson, said that the Government should “pull its finger out” to reform the system until recently known as CRB checks.
The Court of Appeal has found that the current system of disclosing all convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings, no matter how old, minor or irrelevant, is not compatible with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act- the right to a private and family life. Criminal record checks, provided in England by the Disclosure and Barring Service, are available to employers recruiting for certain roles and are also used by educational establishments.
Chris Bath, Unlock’s executive director said, “Under the current system, even the most minor childhood convictions are kept on record until a person’s 100th birthday. They will always be disclosed on a criminal records check. Evidence from our helpline for people with convictions shows that this is forcing people onto benefits. There will be no ‘rehabilitation revolution’ until people have a real opportunity to leave crime behind.”
The case in the Court of Appeal involved a man who had received police warnings at the age of 11. The information was disclosed when seeking a job as a 17 year old and later when he applied for university. The case highlights the long term effects of criminal record, even those gained as a child. It has parallels with the experience of former Police & Crime candidate Bob Ashford, who was forced to stand down due to having received a fine of £2 and 10 Shillings as a 13 year old in 1966 and later launched the ‘Wipe the Slate Clean’ campaign with support from charities including user Voice and Unlock.
Figures obtained by Unlock show the scale of the issue. There are now 9.2 million in the UK with criminal records on the Police National Computer, with one in three men having a criminal conviction by the age of 53. 26% of the 4.9 million open claims for benefit are made by people who have gained a conviction in the last 10 years.
Combined with the European Court of Human Rights’ recent condemnation of the lack of scope for discretion in the UK’s criminal records disclosure system, the Court of Appeal’s decision could have significant implications on the criminal record disclosure system.
The Government has made positive changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 which will come into force in Spring 2013. These will reduce the periods that many people have to disclose their convictions for some jobs. However, jobs for which a criminal record check is conducted will continue to bypass this legislation.
Unlock representative Christopher Stacey, who was a member of the government’s Independent Advisory Panel on Disclosure of Criminal Records, said, “In 2011 Unlock provided the Government with clear proposals on how a system of filtering old and minor convictions could work. We now look forward to reforms that give the millions of people with convictions a fair opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.”
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