Skip to main content
For people with criminal records
For people with criminal records

Category: News & Media

Call for evidence: DBS checks which reveal trans/gender history because of gender-specific offences committed in the past

The current criminal record disclosure rules are unnecessarily harsh and disproportionate – they mean that standard and enhanced DBS checks continue to disclose old, minor and irrelevant offences that often happened decades ago. This means people can feel like they are effectively serving a life sentence for minor offences that they committed in their youth.

As part of our work on this, we’ve become aware of Helen’s* story, and we want to see if Helen’s problem is shared by others.

 

 

This is Helen’s story:

“I am a trans woman. I have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), by which I am recognised in law as female, “for all purposes”.

 

“In the late seventies, around 1979 to be precise, I was working at a club in Soho called The Golden Girl Club, also known as a ‘clip joint’, as a means to fund gender reassignment surgery which was not readily available on the NHS at the time. There was little tolerance for LGBT people among police officers working at West End Central who made it their mission to arrest and humiliate trans women. During this time, I was arrested on a couple of occasions for ‘importuning as a man’ – this essentially means ‘offering services as a prostitute’

 

“In 1980, I completed my gender reassignment survey and moved to America where I went back to university and lived there until the late 90s. In 2004, I completed a master’s degree in psychotherapy and counselling and up until 2011, worked in both a corporate environment as a HR professional and a small private practice.  In 2012, I left the corporate world completely and moved my career into the clinical field.

 

“Given the nature of my work, I am required to provide an enhanced DBS certificate that discloses my spent convictions for historical gender specific offences which I am required to disclose under the legislation due to the type of work I do which discloses my birth gender and my trans status.  Because I do not wish my gender history to be more widely known (and do not wish to disclose my trans status to employers), this has prevented me from applying for many roles and has forced me to stay in organisations that haven’t been in my best professional interest.”

(You might have seen that Helen’s story was covered briefly in The Sunday Times, Daily Mail and The Sun last weekend and early this week. Unlock was referenced as supporting her case, and we’ve copied below the comment we provided to the press at the time).

 

Are you transgender? And do you have a gender-specific criminal record that reveals your previous gender? Get in touch!

We want to hear from people who might have experienced similar issues to Helen. This will help us in our work to push for changes.

All information that is submitted to us is handled confidentially. We do not share personal details to any third-parties without the explicit consent of the person concerned. We are used to dealing with individuals who are quite rightly very protective about their personal data.We take our role of protecting confidentiality very seriously. Find out more here about our approach to collecting evidence of issues.

If you’re transgender and have a gender-specific criminal record, please get in touch with us by emailing (in confidence) policy@unlock.org.uk with the following details:

  1. Your name and date of birth
  2. Contact details (telephone or email) and how you would prefer to be contacted
  3. Do you have a Gender Recognition Certificate?
  4. Have you committed a gender-specific offence in the past which is now ‘spent’ (under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974) but which you have been required to disclose under an enhanced DBS check because of the type of work you do?
  5. What’s the offence?
  6. Was this offence committed by reference to your birth sex, rather than your affirmed sex?
  7. Does your enhanced DBS certificate, therefore, reveal your trans status?

For more details on contacting us, click here.

 

The legal context to Helen’s story

The legal context to Helen’s story has been written by Claire McCann, barrister at Cloisters

Nearly forty years ago, Helen was convicted on two occasions of the offence of ‘man importuning’ under s32 of Sexual Offences Act 1956.  At the time, she was only 18 and 19 years old and, in law, she was male.  She has since acquired legal recognition of her female gender by way of a Gender Recognition Certificate.

A few years ago, Helen applied for a job as a counsellor which required her to obtain an enhanced DBS certificate. This is because she was applying for a specified position of trust which engaged the obligation to obtain an enhanced DBS certificate which, in turn, disclosed all convictions (whether or not spent), unless the spent conviction was protected from disclosure (as a result of the statutory filtering regime which came into force in May 2013).

When the DBS certificate was provided to Helen’s employer, she suffered the humiliation of being asked why male-specific convictions were disclosed on the certificate and she had to explain her gender history. In this way, she was “outed” as trans, something which she had not chosen to disclose to her employer or work colleagues. This experience has discouraged Helen from applying for other work.

The convictions for ‘man opportuning’ cannot be “filtered” or otherwise “disregarded” by the DBS when determining what must be disclosed on her enhanced certificate. This is because the filtering regime created under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013 does not apply to specified offences (and s32 of Sexual Offences Act 1956 is such a specified offence).

Helen has asked the DBS to delete or amend the wording of her convictions on her enhanced certificate (for example, if they were described as “importuning” or “soliciting”, this would not reveal her gender history) but has been told that the DBS does not “own” the data held on the Police National Computer which is, in fact, “owned” by the relevant police force.  Helen, therefore, asked the Early Deletion Unit of the relevant police force to delete or amend the wording of her convictions but her request has been refused on the basis that the convictions do not fall to be “filtered” and the information on the PNC is a matter of historical record and so cannot be amended.

Helen is, therefore, stuck with a DBS certificate which will continue to reveal her trans status.  She, therefore, wishes to challenge the legality of the statutory regime because, unless it is amended, she is forced to either remain in her current workplace or to disclose her trans history should she choose to apply for roles elsewhere.  This constitutes a severe and discriminatory interference with Helen’s right to respect for her private life, contrary to Articles 8 and 14 of European Convention on Human Rights.

Unlock is looking for examples of where the DBS “filtering” does not go far enough.  Helen’s is one example but please get in touch if you have suffered a similar experience.

 

Unlock’s position

The comment that our co-director, Christopher Stacey, gave to the Sunday Times is below, and this explains our position on this issue. We hope that by sharing Helen’s story and putting out this call for evidence, any other people that have suffered from a similar situation to Helen will be able to come forward and help us address this problem.

“The current criminal record disclosure rules are unnecessarily harsh and disproportionate – they continue to disclose old, minor and irrelevant offences that often happened decades ago. This means people can feel like they are effectively serving a life sentence for minor offences that they committed in their youth. We are calling for reforms to the system, and we would expect this to include removing certain old, minor and irrelevant gender-specific offences.

 

For more recent and more serious gender-specific offences, there does not seem to be the flexibility within the current system to still disclose the details of the offence whilst protecting the gender status of the individual. For those who have since acquired legal recognition of a different gender, this clearly raises significant issues for the individual concerned as it serves to disclose their gender history, thereby “outing” them as transgender. We would encourage the government to look at what can be done to resolve this issue.”

If you’re transgender and have a gender-specific criminal record that reveals your previous gender, please get in touch (see details above).

 

* Helen is not her real name – it has been changed in this post to protect her identity

Unlock launches pilot project, supported by the UPP Foundation, to help universities take on students with criminal records

Unlock, an independent charity for people with convictions, has launched a new pilot project, funded by the UPP Foundation, the registered charity founded by University Partnerships Programme (UPP).

The project, Unlocking students with conviction, will see Unlock working with three UK universities – Cardiff University, Goldsmiths and the University of Southampton – supporting them to implement best practice procedures to prevent talented applicants being held back by their past and ensuring universities don’t miss out on untapped potential.

It will ensure that more people with convictions are able to access, and benefit from, university education – not just for themselves, but for their families, communities and for society at large.

Inception of the project comes following the decision by UCAS to remove the criminal conviction declaration box for applicants to the 2019 entry cycle, with universities looking at how to amend their admissions practices to reflect the change.

Over 11 million people in England and Wales have a criminal record and every year there are 1.2 million new convictions. The vast majority of convictions – more than 90% – do not involve a prison sentence. Unlock support thousands of people annually who face stigma, discrimination and ongoing disadvantages long after they have served their conviction. Many people choose not to apply for jobs, training or education if they know they will be asked about their criminal record.

The growth of partnerships between prisons and the university sector has renewed the belief that higher education is inclusive and can transform lives – raising the educational aspirations of people with criminal records. Evidence shows that education at every level has a huge impact on reducing reoffending, keeping us all safe.

Alongside working with the three institutions, Unlock will also be working with UCAS to disseminate good practice resources developed for institutions, as well as encouraging other universities to review and improve their policies and procedures.

Commenting on the project launch, Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said:

“We’re pleased to have the support of the UPP Foundation in launching this pilot project. Unlock has seen first-hand how people with convictions have been put off from applying to university. If universities are committed to widening participation, they should be considering the qualified applicants from all backgrounds. The decision by UCAS to remove the main criminal conviction box from the UCAS form for those applying to start university in 2019 signals to universities that criminal records shouldn’t feature in their assessment of academic potential.

 

“At a time when institutions are rightly looking to amend their policies and procedures, we look forward to working with these universities to support them in implementing best practice procedures, as well as encouraging other universities to do the same.”

Richard Brabner, Director of the UPP Foundation, said:

“We believe that everyone with the potential and ambition to go to and succeed at university should have the ability to do so.  The UPP Foundation is delighted to be working with Unlock to ensure more students with criminal convictions can access higher education, transforming their lives and supporting their transition back into society.”

 

Notes

  1. Unlock is an independent, award-winning national charity that provides a voice and support for people with convictions who are facing stigma and obstacles because of their criminal record, often long after they have served their sentence. Unlock’s website is unlock.devchd.com.
  2. The UPP Foundation is a registered charity that offers grants to universities, charities and other higher education bodies. In recent years, as higher education has expanded, the burden of paying for a degree has shifted towards the individual. This presents difficulties in maintaining the ‘University for the Public Good’, as well as ensuring there is greater equity in going to, succeeding at and benefiting from the university experience. The UPP Foundation helps universities and the wider higher education sector overcome these challenges. The UPP Foundation was created in 2016 by University Partnerships Programme (UPP), the leading provider of on campus student accommodation infrastructure and support services in the UK. UPP is the sole funder of the UPP Foundation. The UPP Foundation is an independent charity and all of its grants are reviewed and authorised by its Board of Trustees. The Foundation is supported by an Advisory Board. More information is available at the UPP Foundation website: www.upp-foundation.org
  3. There are over 11 million people in the UK that have a criminal record.
  4. Details about the Unlocking students with conviction project are available here.
  5. Details about the decision by UCAS are available here.
  6. For more information about the project, email university@unlock.org.uk.

New good practice resources for higher education providers

The piece below has been published as part of new good practice resources for universities, published by UCAS, which Unlock has supported.

Unlock very much welcomes the removal of the main criminal conviction box from the UCAS application. Having worked with higher education providers for a number of years, the previous approach presented a barrier to individuals with a criminal record, and the decision by UCAS is a significant change that has the potential to help many people with convictions see higher education as a positive way forward in their lives. Unlock has seen first-hand how people have been put off from applying to university as a result of the box on application forms.

With the changes that UCAS has announced, the higher education sector now has a unique opportunity to question whether criminal records should feature at all when deciding whether someone should be accepted onto a university course. If universities are committed to widening participation, they should be considering the widest number of potential applicants. The change by UCAS provides a strong signal to universities that criminal records should not feature in their assessment of academic ability. Many institutions are now rightly looking at how to amend their policies and practices.

When you look at who actually has a criminal record, you can see how there are real benefits to universities in being open and inclusive towards people with a criminal record.

  1. There are large numbers of people with convictions who could potentially be admitted to university who are not because they are being deterred from applying. The numbers of prison-university partnerships are growing. Less than 10% of people with a criminal record go to prison, yet there are over 11 million people with a criminal record and approximately three-quarters of a million people with an unspent criminal record.
  2. This issue should be seen through the lens of widening participation, which remains at the forefront of government policy in higher education. People of Black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background are disproportionately represented amongst those who are arrested and imprisoned; the racial disproportionality in the UK criminal justice system is actually greater than that in the US system. Just under three quarters of the prison population in England and Wales was from the white ethnic group. When compared to the general population, those who identified as BAME are over represented in the prison population; 13% in the general population compared to 26% in prison. People with convictions also often represent other groups who are disproportionately under-represented at university, including care leavers, people from low income households, mature students, people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and first-in-family. Nearly a quarter of people in prison (compared with 2% of the general population) have spent time in the care system as children.

People with convictions who are applying to university are showing a huge commitment to turning their lives around. As a society, we should be doing all that we can to support them. The opportunity to go to university can help people to move away from their criminal past, build careers and contribute positively to society. Their presence is also hugely beneficial to universities themselves, which gain highly committed students who help create a more diverse and inclusive learning environment.

Whether universities should ask at all

It’s important to understand why UCAS have dropped the need for applicants to disclose relevant unspent convictions; they recognised that the question at application stage could deter people from applying, and wanted to reaffirm that higher education is open to everyone.

In Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, universities don’t ask about criminal records. Most European universities do not ask, nor do Australian institutions. The 23 California state universities do not ask. The 64 State University of New York colleges and universities do not ask. Research from the US found no evidence that admitting people with criminal convictions led to a higher rate of crime on campus. It is also consistent with the ban the box campaign that is spreading amongst employers, removing the question about criminal records from job application forms.

How should universities respond to the change?

It is our view that the starting point should be that criminal records should not be a part of a university’s assessment of academic merit. The change by UCAS sends a strong signal to universities that they should not be collecting criminal records from all potential students at application stage, and we expect to see the majority of institutions decide not to ask about criminal records for admissions purposes for most courses. Criminal record disclosure (of, say, certain offences) may feature in other parts, like when applying for university accommodation, but that’s further down the line and a separate process to that of admissions with different considerations.

In considering concerns about people recently convicted of serious offences applying to universities and not having to declare whether they have a criminal record, this is where a key understanding of the role of others outside of universities is important, and Unlock has produced a separate briefing on understanding applicants with a criminal record.

For courses that involve enhanced criminal record checks, the briefing also looks at how universities should approach applicants that have a criminal record. There remains work to be done to ensure that there is a proportionate approach to assessing the relevance of the applicant’s criminal record and that the right decisions are reached. While it’s right that individuals should be aware of what future challenges they might encounter, universities shouldn’t be preventing them the opportunity to try.

Throughout all of this, universities need to have a strong, inclusive mindset with student support at the heart. Unless you are proactively including, you are probably accidentally excluding. Many institutions are now rightly looking at how to amend their policies and practices. I hope to see a number of universities step forward and make changes to their processes following consideration of this good practice. Unlock will continue to work with UCAS and institutions to ensure fair admissions policies towards applicants with criminal records.

This was originally published in the Criminal convictions – Good practice guide, which is part of a wider set of resources published by UCAS.

Our submission to the government’s call for evidence on the employment of people with convictions

Today we have submitted our written response to the government’s call for evidence on the employment for people with convictions.

Download our submission here.

You can find out more about the call for evidence in our recent post to encourage others to get involved.

Our submission draws on work that we’ve been doing as part of our Fair Access to Employment project.

 

Monthly update – August 2018

We’ve just published our update for August 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. An update post setting out changes to the ‘disqualification by association’ element of the Childcare Disqualification Requirements which came into effect on 31st August 2018.
  2. A link to updated information on applying to university.
  3. A personal story explaining why the government needs to change the current filtering system.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum from Neo Matrix who is keen to hear what changes people feel the government could make to help those with convictions get into work.
  5. A blog by Christopher Stacey reflecting how the Charity Commission’s changes to the ‘automatic disqualification’ rules will impact on how charities involve people with criminal records at a senior level.

 

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 2018 update in full.

 

Best wishes,

Unlock

 

Notes

  • All previous updates can be found in full in the ‘Latest updates‘ section of our Information Hub
  • For more self-help information, please visit unlock.devchd.com/information-and-advice/
  • If you have any questions about this information, please contact our helpline
  • If you’ve been forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive these updates directly by clicking here and selecting to receive ‘News/updates for people with convictions’
  • If you have found this information useful, please leave us your feedback and/or consider making a donation.

 

Criminal record requests on application forms could be breaching GDPR

People Management has published an article that looks at a briefing recently published by Nacro that looks at data protection and the use of criminal offence data for employment and education purposes. We very much welcome the briefing by Nacro, which raises some important issues for employers. 

Speaking to People Management, Christopher Stacey, Co-director of Unlock, said:

“GDPR and the new Data Protection Act 2018 means employers that choose to ask applicants about criminal records will need to provide clear reasons and explain their legal basis for doing so. It is likely that asking about criminal records at application stage would be very difficult to justify in light of the recent enhancements in data protection. As one of the founding members of the Ban the Box campaign in the UK, Unlock encourages employers of all sizes and in every sector to sign up and remove criminal record questions from application forms.

 

“However, fair recruitment is about more than just removing a question. Employers are required to justify why they are asking about criminal records at any stage in the process, and we encourage employers to use this opportunity to think about whether they need to ask about criminal records at all and, if they do, how they manage the process so they don’t miss out on talented and qualified applicants with previous convictions. Proactive recruiters report that employees with convictions are more productive and more loyal than average. We have developed 10 principles of fair recruitment, in collaboration with business and government, and we will be publishing practical guidance for employers on data protection, GDPR and criminal records in the coming weeks.” 

Get involved! Government consultation on employer practices towards people with criminal records

The Cabinet Office (in partnership with the Ministry of Justice) are calling for evidence on the employment for people with convictions, and they want to hear from employers about recruitment practices, employability initiatives and evidence/impact. As well as employers, the Cabinet Office want to hear from organisations or professionals who:

  • work with people with convictions through the provision of skills training, outreach, mentoring, work placements.
  • work with people with convictions to help them find employment?
  • work with or advise other organisations on creating fair recruitment practices and supporting people with convictions in the labour market
  • campaign to reduce the stigma associated with having, or hiring someone with, a criminal conviction

We’ve shared this call for evidence with our network of employers and encourage you to do the same. However, we expect that the majority of employers that respond will have a more positive view of hiring people with convictions. While this is important, it’s just as important to hear about employers with negative views of employing people with a criminal record, so please share examples – anonymised if you prefer – of both in your response to the Cabinet Office, and share them with us too to help inform our response.

Although the consultation is not directly targeted at individuals, anyone can respond to the consultation so we would encourage people with a criminal record who have evidence and experiences linked to the areas below to respond.

Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock said:

“We’re very pleased to see the Cabinet Office launch this call for evidence, and we’re keen to raise awareness of it so that it reaches as many employers as possible. We’d really like to to encourage responses from businesses that perhaps have less positive approaches approaches to applicants with a criminal record, so that the government understand what some of the barriers are for employers. Alongside a number of positive examples of where employers do this well, we know that there are widespread negative attitudes towards applicants with a criminal record, and we’ll be making sure that these are reflected in our response so that we can encourage the government to do more to help change this.”

The consultation is looking at three areas, and we’ve suggested some questions below to consider in your response:

Recruitment practices

  1. What are employers doing – if anything – to promote fair recruitment for people with a criminal record?
  2. Do employers impose restrictions and/or bans on the hiring of ex-offenders for some or all jobs – and if so, why?
  3. What incentives or support could help employers sign up to Ban the Box?
  4. Examples of employers that proactively hire people with a criminal convictions. Examples of companies that restrict or refuse employment to people with convictions.

 

Employability initiatives

  1. Which companies run employability initiatives to support recruitment of people with criminal records?
  2. What support could be offered to employers to improve prospects for people with criminal records?

 

Evidence and impact

  1. What is the impact of employment – for business, for the individual, the community and the economy?
  2. What evidence is there of impact and what evidence could be collected better?

 

How to get involved

Read the full call for evidence here and complete and return your response to aandi-socialresearch@cabinetoffice.gov.uk by 5pm on Friday 31 August 2018.

Unlock will be responding directly to the consultation too, so alongside making a response yourself, please do send us information that can help inform our response. You can email details (confidentially) to policy@unlock.org.uk.

Although the consultation is not directly targeted at individuals, anyone can respond to the consultation so we would encourage people with a criminal record who have evidence and experiences linked to the areas above to respond.

 

New charity rules that impact on people with convictions come into force today

There are over 11 million people in this country with a criminal record. Many of them play a vital role in contributing to the work of charities. There are many charities, including those working with people in the criminal justice system, that are ‘user led’ or actively involve their beneficiaries at a senior level in their organisation.

Almost anyone is allowed to run a charity, but there are rules that mean some people with a criminal record are prevented from being able to unless they have clearance from the Charity Commission.

Those rules have changed today (1st August 2018). Changes to the ‘automatic disqualification’ rules mean some people with certain convictions will be prevented from being able to run a charity, unless they have clearance from the Charity Commission. The changes cover a wider range of criminal records and apply to certain senior manager roles as well as trustee positions.

Unlock has long opposed these changes – we continue to argue that they are disproportionate and an ineffective way of protecting charities. But in response to the implementation timetable set out by government and the Charity Commission, we published guidance for charities and individuals in February 2018, which we have now updated and published today to reflect the changes having fully come into force.

It’s important that charities of all shapes and sizes get to grips with these changes, not just those that work in criminal justice. If you particularly involve people with criminal convictions in your organisation’s leadership, it is vital to understand what you can do to support people who are affected by the new rules to be involved.

For individuals that are affected by these changes, our guidance for individuals (and online tool) is designed to help. If you think you need to apply for a waiver, or are in the process of doing so, please get in touch with our helpline so that we can support where possible.

Commenting on figures featured in news articles today in Third Sector and Civil Society, Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said:

“The figures that the Charity Commission has released today do not give any detail on how many of the waivers they have granted relate to people with a criminal record, and that is an important figure to being able to understand the impact of these changes and how well the waiver process is working.

 

“We know of some cases where individuals have waited months for a decision, and it’s concerning to learn that over 1 in 3 waiver applications are still being considered. Given that these decisions might have significant implications for people’s livelihoods, it’s important that the commission is making sure that it’s meeting its aim of making decisions within 21 days.

 

“Research of small charities has shown that 70% of organisations are not aware of the changes and the majority lack confidence in their understanding of the impact the changes will have on people involved in their charities. The fact that a third of the waiver applications so far were not applicable points to this lack of knowledge and confidence.

 

“Today, we’ve launched updated guidance, supported by Clinks, to help charities understand the changes and to look at what steps to take to maintain and increase the involvement of people with criminal records within charities.”

 

More information

  1. A blog by our co-director, Christopher Stacey, on the changes that came into force today
  2. Our updated guidance for charities
  3. Our updated guidance for individuals
  4. The charity rule changes page on our website.

Blog – What will be the impact of today’s charity rule changes?

There are over 11 million people in this country with a criminal record. Many of them play a vital role in contributing to the work of charities. There are many charities, including those working with people in the criminal justice system, that are ‘user led’ or actively involve their beneficiaries at a senior level in their organisation.

Almost anyone is allowed to run a charity, but there are rules that mean some people with a criminal record are prevented from being able to unless they have clearance from the Charity Commission.

Those rules have changed today (1st August 2018). Changes to the ‘automatic disqualification’ rules mean some people with certain convictions will be prevented from being able to run a charity, unless they have clearance from the Charity Commission. The changes cover a wider range of criminal records and apply to certain senior manager roles as well as trustee positions.

Unlock has long opposed these changes – we continue to argue that they are disproportionate and an ineffective way of protecting charities. However, pragmatically we also need to make sure that both charities and individuals respond to the changes.

But worryingly, awareness of the changes is low. Research of small charities carried out by the Foundation for Social Improvement in partnership with Unlock has shown a low level of awareness and understanding of these changes amongst the voluntary sector. Of the 83 respondents to an online survey held in July 2018:

  1. 70% were not aware of the changes
  2. On a small of 1-10 on how confident charities were on understanding the impact on people involved in the charity:
    1. 34% scored 1 (the least confident)
    2. 65% scored 5 or less
    3. Only 10% scored 10 (the most confident)
  3. 4 charities had identified individuals that might be directly affected (i.e. potentially disqualified), yet none of those individuals had applied for a waiver.

It’s important that charities of all shapes and sizes get to grips with these changes, not just those that work in criminal justice. If you particularly involve people with criminal convictions in your organisation’s leadership, it is vital to understand what you can do to support people who are effected to be involved.

We published guidance, with the support of Clinks, in February of this year, to coincide with a new ‘advance’ waiver system that people could use if they were affected by the changes coming in next week. We’ve now updated the guidance, published today, to reflect the changes having fully come into force –  to help charities understand these changes and look at what steps to take to maintain and increase the involvement of people with criminal records within charities.

Two main things are now covered in the latest guidance:

  1. Advice on checking your governing documents – it’s quite common for provisions in articles that prevent people from being disqualified. Depending on how they’re worded, it can mean that a waiver from the Charity Commission has no effect. We’ve sought legal advice and advice from the Charity Commission, and included examples of where this might cause a problem, and provided suggested wording.
  2. Sample declarations for charities to use for trustees and senior managers covered by the rules

We’ve also got guidance for individuals – to help people understand if they’re affected, we’ve got a simple online tool – and also detailed guidance on applying for a waiver. In practice, people that are disqualified can apply for a waiver which, if granted, will mean they can still take up the role that they were previously disqualified from.

Moving forward, there’s a big question about the impact of these changes. We’ve always been concerned that these changes will make it much more difficult for charities to involve people with criminal records at senior levels in their organisation.

Ultimately, it’s important that neither individuals nor charities think that these changes mean people with criminal records can’t be involved in charities – they can and they should. To help with this, we encourage charities to make a firm commitment to involving people from diverse backgrounds, including people with convictions (particularly given the strong links to over-representation of Black and Minority Ethnic groups in the criminal justice system) and recruiting people on their skills and abilities first.

We are also encouraging charities to take 4 simple steps in dealing with the rules:

  1. Work out who the new rules cover in your charity and check your governing documents
  2. Ask those people in roles covered by the new rules if they are disqualified
  3. Support any individuals disqualified
  4. Update your policies and practices for recruiting new trustees and certain senior manager positions

We expect the commission to grant waivers to people who are clearly adding value to the charities that they’re involved in, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on any decisions they make to refuse waivers. The number of waiver applications so far is small – only a handle of people with convictions have applied for a waiver since 1st February, and many are still awaiting a decision.

Over the coming months we will be supporting charities that have individuals affected, as well as supporting individuals that are applying for a waiver, and continuing our policy work with the Charity Commission.

 

 

 

More information

  1. A news post about the changes coming into force today
  2. Our updated guidance for charities
  3. Our updated guidance for individuals
  4. The charity rule changes page on our website.

Monthly update – July 2018

We’ve just published our update for July 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. An advice post setting out the way in which conditional cautions are recorded on the Police National Computer and how this impacts on their being filtered from standard and enhanced DBS checks.
  2. A link to some general information on applying for a subject access request.
  3. A personal story on getting professional indemnity insurance to start a business.
  4. A link to a discussion on theForum from GaryTS who is looking for some advice on applying for an SIA licence.
  5. A blog by Christopher Stacey on his reflections on last months landmark criminal record disclosure hearing at the Supreme Court.

 

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 July 2018 update in full.

 

Best wishes,

Unlock

 

Notes

  • All previous updates can be found in full in the ‘Latest updates‘ section of our Information Hub
  • For more self-help information, please visit unlock.devchd.com/information-and-advice/
  • If you have any questions about this information, please contact our helpline
  • If you’ve been forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive these updates directly by clicking here and selecting to receive ‘News/updates for people with convictions’
  • If you have found this information useful, please leave us your feedback and/or consider making a donation.

 

We want to make sure that our website is as helpful as possible.

Letting us know if you easily found what you were looking for or not enables us to continue to improve our service for you and others.

Was it easy to find what you were looking for?

Thank you for your feedback.

12.5 million people have criminal records in the UK. We need your help to help them.

Help support us now