For people with criminal records
Today we took a small group of people with convictions to a private session with the Justice Committee as part of their short inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records.
We’re grateful to everybody who took part, and we have no doubt it will have helped committee members better understand the issues as they look into this issue and make recommendations in 2017.
Read more on our information site.
“A reformed criminal records system for children”
That’s the recommendation of Charlie Taylor, whose review into youth justice was published today.
In a wide-ranging review, there’s a specific section on criminal records (pages 25 and 26).
He proposes that the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office should:
“Develop a distinct approach to how childhood offending is treated by the criminal records system. (Paragraph 85)
This should include:
consideration of distinguishing between under-15s and 15-17 year olds in terms of the retention and disclosure implications of offending; (Paragraph 86)
further reductions in the periods before which childhood convictions become spent; (Paragraph 87)
all childhood offending (with the exception of the most serious offences)
becoming non-disclosable after a period of time; (Paragraph 88) and
the circumstances in which police intelligence on childhood conduct can be disclosed being further restricted. The Home Office should consider the introduction of a presumption that police intelligence dating from childhood should not be disclosed except in exceptional circumstances. (Paragraph 89)”
In its response, the government said:
“We recognise that criminal records in childhood can impact on future life chances. However, there are a number of cases before the courts in relation to disclosure policy as it currently stands. We also look forward to the findings of the current inquiry being carried out by the Justice Select Committee in this area. We intend to work with the Home Office to consider these and the Taylor Review’s recommendations more fully following the Court’s judgement.”
Christopher Stacey, Co-director of Unlock, said:
“We very much welcome the proposals for reform to childhood criminal records that Charlie Taylor has set out in his report. We encourage the government to undertake proactive work in making these recommendations a reality. The ongoing legal cases challenge a narrow aspect of the system and could be settled if the government withdrew its appeal against the January 2016 ruling in the High Court. Regardless of this, there is a pressing need for work to be undertaken in the meantime, ready for when the Court of Appeal makes it judgement in 2017, and we stand ready to work positively with government on this important issue.”
Our written evidence to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records has been published on the Parliament website.
Alongside a number of recommendations, we’ve included five anonymous personal experiences. Next week, we’re taking a small group of people to Westminster to share their personal stories with MP’s on the Committee.
The specific details of the inquiry are here
There are more general details about the work of the Justice Committee here
We’ve just published our update for November 2016.
This months update includes:
The full update provides a summary of:
Read the November 2016 update in full
Best wishes,
Unlock
Notes
Today Civil Society has published a piece on the extensions to rules disqualifying trustees and senior managers as a result of criminal convictions.
A Charity Commission spokesperson is quoted in the article, stating that:
“these changes will have significant impact on some individuals and we have always been clear that charities and affected individuals must have enough time to prepare for these changes properly. In order to do so fully, we are working with the Office for Civil Society to set a commencement date later in 2017.
“We consider that this should not before September and are hopeful that this will be agreed. We continue to work with a number of umbrella bodies and rehabilitation charities as we further develop these plans to ensure that charities, trustees and senior staff members have all the relevant information and enough time to take the appropriate steps.”
The original plan of government was to introduce these changes in April 2017.
We are pleased that the government and Charity Commission have listened to the concerns that we’ve raised by delaying implementation. We continue to have principled objections to a number of aspects of the new legislation, in particular the extension of the framework to senior managers and the inclusion of certain spent convictions and people on the sex offenders register. These changes are unnecessary and will be an ineffective way of protecting charities.
A delay to implementation will enable the government to carry out the proper impact assessment of these proposed changes that it has committed to do, so that this can be considered as part of the implementation process. It will also give the commission the time it needs to produce clear guidance on the new framework and establish a sensible waiver process. The retrospective impact of these changes means that the commission needs time to support both charities and individuals affected and ensure that individuals are able to obtain waivers ahead of these changes coming into force.
We understand that the commission remain committed to raising awareness and publishing guidance at least 6 months in advance of any changes coming into force. We’ll be keeping our policy section updated as this progresses.
The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 means people with unspent convictions for specific offences, as well as those on the sex offenders register are automatically disqualified from acting as trustees or senior managers.
As a charity that exists to support the efforts of people with convictions in moving on positively with their lives, and as an organisation which itself seeks to recruit trustees and leaders who themselves have convictions, we are concerned about the impact of this. Ultimately, we think that the changes brought in by the 2016 Act are disproportionate and an ineffective way of protecting charities.
You are likely to be affected if you:
or
We’re gathering evidence from people who are impacted by the disqualification rules.
If you have are automatically disqualified from acting as a trustee or senior manager because of your criminal record and have been (or will be) affected by the rules in some way, contact us at policy@unlock.org.uk using the subject header ‘Call for evidence: CC disqualification’.
Please include:
Any information you provide will be kept in line with our confidentiality policy. Any personal information provided to us will not be shared externally without your consent.
Find out more about how we handle your data.
In 2017 we expect the new disqualification powers under the 2016 Charities Act to start.
These powers allow the Charity Commission to disqualify people (i.e. prevent them) from holding senior management positions, or from being a trustee of a charity, if they have certain criminal convictions – and a new waiver application process.
Unlock, Clinks and the Prison Reform Trust pushed for changes to the legislation, and we continue to work with Charity Commission and government on how these new powers might impact people with convictions, the charity sector, their current and future employees and trustees.
Both voluntary organisations and people with convictions need to understand the impact of this legislation; that’s why we will be producing guidance in early 2017. This new briefing, published jointly with Clinks, summarises what the disqualification is, some of the issues we have with it, and what we’re doing to support both people with convictions and the charity sector.
We’re keen to hear from people who will be personally affected by the changes when they come into force. Take a look at our questions to help understand if you’re affected, and how to get in touch with us.
You can find out more details about the work that we’re doing on this issue on our dedicated policy page.
We’re delighted to announce that our helpline picked up two awards at the national ‘Helpline Awards 2016’ held in London last Friday (4th November).
We came 2nd in the ‘Helpline Impact’ award category, and Debbie Sadler, our advice manager, came 3rd in the ‘Employee of the Year’ category.
Commenting on her award, Debbie said:
“There’s such a strong field of amazing helplines and employees, so I’m incredibly proud to be awarded 3rd place as helpline employee of the year. It’s great to be involved in Unlock – it’s such a fantastic organisation. To be recognised in this way for doing a job that I feel so passionate about is the icing on the cake.”
The award for impact recognises the significant increase in numbers of people contacting us directly and using our websites for information/advice. It also reinforces the efforts the team have gone to in the last couple of years to underpin the helpline by following up with people and tracking outcomes that follow from our support, so that we can demonstrate the impact the helpline has.
These awards show the unique role that our helpline plays in providing information, advice and support to people with convictions. The awards build on findings of an independent evaluation that we published earlier this year. We wouldn’t have won either of these awards without the small but fantastic team of staff and volunteers that we have.
Finally, we’re grateful to the charitable trusts and individual donations that help us to run the helpline as an independent, non-government source of support to people who are looking for confidential advice in overcoming the effects of their criminal convictions.
We’ve just published our update for October 2016.
This months update includes:
The full update provides a summary of:
Read the October 2016 update in full
Best wishes,
Unlock
Notes
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