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For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Category: News @ Unlock

Criminal records webinar Wednesday 2 December

Do you deal with criminal records in your work? You might be helping people with convictions who are applying for jobs, or working in recruitment/HR and making hiring decisions or carrying out DBS checks.  

If any of these apply to you, book a place and join us on Wednesday 2 December for our webinar on understanding the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and the disclosure of criminal records. 

The criminal records system in England and Wales is complex and often confusing. There are over 11 million people with a criminal record. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act is a piece of legislation that sets out when convictions become ‘spent’, and it’s important to know the difference between unspent and spent convictions and when they need to be disclosed.  


When and where? 

Wednesday 2 December, 2-4pm, Online
(Please join at 1.45pm to begin promptly at 2pm – thank you) 

Price: £49 (if booked before 1 November, normal price £59) 

Price includes a course pack with materials and useful resources which will be sent to you before the webinar. 

Places are limited, so book now to guarantee your place. If you wish to be notified on any future webinars, please email admin@unlockorg.uk 

Who is it for? 

The webinar is aimed at anyone who deals with criminal records in their work. You might be helping people with convictions who are applying for jobs, or you might be working in recruitment/HR and making hiring decisions or carrying on DBS checks. 

What it will cover

  • The levels of DBS criminal record check and what they disclose 
  • How individuals can find out about their criminal record 
  • The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and spent convictions 
  • The ‘filtering’ rules and protected cautions/convictions 
  • Good practice in asking about criminal records for employment and volunteering 

To find out more and to book, visit our Eventbrite page. 

Footer 

If you have any questions, email admin@unlock.org.uk. 

This webinar is part of the training that we provide. 

Monthly update – September 2020

We’ve just published our update for September 2020.

This months update includes:

  1. An update to our A-Z of job roles and their eligibility for basic, standard and enhanced criminal record checks.
  2. A personal story from an individual who has been accepted onto a university course to study digital forensics following a conviction for assault.
  3. A link to a discussion on theForum from an individual sharing his experience of a whistle-blower disclosing his spent conviction to his employer.
  4. Unlocks response to the Ministry of Justice plans to make reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
  5. A link to a report published by Unlock and the Prison Reform Trust exploring employers attitudes towards hiring people convicted of sexual offences.

 

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 September 2020 update in full.

Best wishes,

Unlock

Notes

Introducing two new team members

We’re pleased to welcome two new colleagues to the team at Unlock: Sam Doohan – our first Policy Officer – and Ruth Davies – our first Digital and Communications Manager.  

We’re a small team with big ambitions, and these two new roles will help us to broaden our reach and increase our impact through digital, policy and influencing.  

Sam will build on Unlock’s recent success – including successful legal intervention in the Supreme Court, the #FairChecks movement and work on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 – to influence policy makers and key stakeholders to secure changes to legislation and government policy.    

Sam said: 

‘Criminal records unfairly impact the lives of millions of people. Everyone deserves the chance to move on with their life without facing stigma or discrimination. Unlock have had some major successes in the past few years, and it’s my job make sure that they keep happening.’ 

As the charity’s first Digital and Communications Manager, Ruth will co-ordinate Unlock’s digital presence to ensure that we reach as many people as possible, optimising our digital tools – websites, video, communications, email and social media. She will also work with the team to increase awareness of Unlock’s work, and support our policy and influencing work to challenge the stigma and discrimination that people face.   

Ruth said:

‘It’s really exciting to be joining a charity with such a proven track record of making a real difference to people’s lives. I’m looking forward to helping raise the voices of people with criminal records, and supporting the team to drive real change for people who are so often unheard by those in power.’

Monthly update – August 2020

We’ve just published our update for August 2020.

This months update includes:

  1. New information to address some of the issues people face in telling a partner, family member or friend about their criminal record.
  2. A personal story from an individual who, as a victim of domestic violence, received a conviction but, has gone on to fulfil their dream of becoming a nurse.
  3. A link to a discussion on theForum around home insurance and the changes recently made by some insurers who have refused to renew the policies of people with unspent convictions, despite their previously being disclosed.
  4. Details of a criminal records webinar being held on 16th September 2020 for anybody who deals with criminal records in the course of their work.

 

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 August 2020 update in full.

Best wishes,

Unlock

Notes

Monthly update – June 2020

We’ve just published our update for June 2020.

This months update includes:

  1. An infographic setting out details of the number of people we supported in 2019/20 through out helpline and online sites.
  2. An update to our list of ban the box employers to include details of companies that have recently signed up to remove the box on application forms which asks about criminal records.
  3. A personal story from an individual whose conviction has just become spent but wants more to be done to reform the criminal records disclosure regime.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum from an individual who, after disclosing his conviction to his local authority has been told that he can’t join/stay on the housing register for at least 2 years. 
  5. Details of a briefing paper we’ve just published calling on the government to use financial incentives to improve the employment prospects for people with convictions.
  6. A call out to anybody who has any experience of applying to a ‘ban the box’ employer for a job.

 

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 June 2020 update in full.

Best wishes,

Unlock

Notes

Blog – Criminal justice, racial discrimination and criminal records

In this blog, Christopher Stacey shares some thoughts on the current Black Lives Matter protests, the criminal justice system, racial discrimination and the impact of criminal records.

The protests and debate following the killing of George Floyd should make organisations of all shapes and sizes reflect on how they make racial justice a key part of their work.

At Unlock we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about fairness for people who have been through the criminal justice system. We know that criminalisation holds people back from achieving their potential. And we know that the justice system doesn’t treat people of all races equally.

Research has shown time and again that people from some backgrounds are disproportionately represented at all stages of the criminal justice system. The term ‘BAME’ sometimes masks differences between groups and so we avoid using it where we can. People of black and other minority ethnic backgrounds are:

  1. More likely to be stopped and searched – Over the last 5 years, the proportion of suspects who were stopped and searched from white ethnic groups has decreased while the proportion of suspects across all minority ethnic groups has increased – from 13% to 22% for black groups, from 8% to 13% for Asian groups, from 3% to 4% for mixed ethnic groups and from 1% to 2% for Chinese or other groups.
  2. More likely to be arrested – Over the last 5 years, the proportion of white children arrested in London has decreased from 42% to 33%, while the proportion of black children arrested in London has increased from 34% to 42%,
  3. More likely to get a caution – Although the use of cautions is decreasing overall, the proportion accepted by black people in police custody has grown. In the 11 years to March 2019, the total number of youth cautions went down by 91% (from 93,656 to 8,552), and there was a decrease in every ethnic group. The percentage of cautions given to white children went down from 88.0% to 83.1%, while the percentage given to black children increased from 6.6% to 11.0%. A caution is a criminal record. It can prevent someone getting onto a teaching or medicine degree, or from getting a job in law, accountancy or government.
  4. More likely to be prosecuted – Black defendants have a much higher rate of prosecution, and therefore are at an increased likelihood of receiving a conviction.
  5. More likely to plead not guilty – Black defendants are consistently more likely to plead not guilty than white defendants. This means that, if found guilty, they are likely to face more punitive sentences than if they had admitted guilt. The result of this is a criminal record that will invariably end up having to be disclosed for longer under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA) because the time it takes for the conviction to become spent will be longer.
  6. More likely to get a longer sentence – White people have had a consistently lower average custodial sentence length for indictable offences than all other ethnic groups since 2014. Black teenage boys are more likely to be charged with murder than manslaughter and more likely to receive a higher or maximum sentence than white boys. One in four black teenage boys guilty of manslaughter were given maximum jail terms, while white children found guilty of the same crime were sentenced to no more than 10 years, with the majority getting less than four. This particular statistic is striking within the context of the criminal records regime, where any sentence of more than 4 years in prison can never become spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. More generally, longer sentences take longer to become spent (if they ever do), meaning a criminal record will cause more difficulties for longer. In other words, the white boys will have a better chance of moving on than the black boys convicted of the same crime.

We know the problems of a criminal record are compounded by discrimination for black people and people from some ethnic minorities. 75% of employers admit discriminating against applicants with a criminal record. Black and brown young people already face discrimination and a criminal record compounds that.

We can’t fix the justice system quickly. But we can try not to continue that discrimination after a sentence ends. That’s why we’re committed to pushing forward the recommendations that we made in Double discrimination? as part of our campaigning and advocacy work on reforming the criminal records regime.

It’s also why it’s important that we share this knowledge with the employers, organisations and universities that we work with, but we can always do more. We will step-up our efforts in challenging employers and others that have discriminatory attitudes towards people with criminal records, because we know this has a disproportionate impact on black and brown people.

And we must look much closer to home. In common with much of the charity sector, Unlock’s small team of staff and volunteers is comprised entirely of white people, which neither reflects society nor many of those we’re here to help. We will work to address this. We are watching, listening and learning, looking at how we can improve our support. And we will push harder for changes in policies and practices to challenge the disproportionate impact that the criminal records disclosure regime has on people from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds.

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

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

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