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For people with criminal records

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New guidance and tools published to help charities and individuals deal with changes to charity rules and criminal records

Update – 1st August 2018 – Changes to the rule come into force and we publish updates to the guidance mentioned below

Unlock, a leading independent charity for people with convictions, has today published guidance to help charities, as well as those involved in them, understand and prepare for changes to charity rules and its impact on people with criminal records.

From 1st August 2018, changes to the ‘automatic disqualification’ rules mean that there will be more restrictions on those who may run a charity.

Today’s guidance, Leading charities with conviction, coincides with the opening of the Charity Commission’s new ‘waiver’ system. From 1st February 2018, people affected by these changes may use the system to apply for advance clearance.

Commenting on today’s guidance, Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock and author of the guidance for charities, said:

“There are over 11 million people in this country with a criminal record, and they play a vital role in contributing to charities.

 

“We would rather not have had to write this guidance. We believe the changes to the rules are unnecessary and ineffective. But as they are coming in, people need to act now. 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.

 

“Unlock’s message is this: don’t wait until August. If you’re involved in a charity and find that, from reading our guidance you’ll be disqualified from August 2018 because of your specific criminal record, today is the first day from which you may apply for a waiver. If you’re granted a waiver, it means you’re no longer disqualified.

 

“It’s also important that charities get to grips with these changes too. Understanding of the current rules is low, so it won’t be surprising if these changes are met with confusion and uncertainty by charities. Charities will need to update their recruitment processes to reflect the changes to the rules. That’s why we’ve worked with Clinks, the national infrastructure charity that supports the voluntary sector working in criminal justice in England and Wales, to produce simple, easy to use guidance and tools that will help boards of trustees, senior staff and HR managers understand what they need to do to prepare.”

Anne Fox, Chief Executive Officer of Clinks, the national infrastructure charity that supports the voluntary sector working in criminal justice in England and Wales, said:

“At Clinks we know that people with convictions have as much to offer civil society and the voluntary sector as anyone else. We believe that with the right support every individual can transform their lives.

 

“For charities working in criminal justice people with lived experience of the system are key to the difference we can make in the lives of people with convictions and their families – improving the quality and impact of the services on offer, and enabling services users to build a new identity which supports their journey to desistance from crime. For the wider voluntary sector a diverse range of trustees and staff is vital to ensure a broad range of perspectives, skills and knowledge.

 

“It is vital that organisations understand and prepare for these changes and how they might affect their trustees and senior staff. We are delighted to be working with Unlock to support the sector to do this”.

 

For more information

  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.
  2. There are over 11 million people in the UK that have a criminal record.
  3. Unlock’s website is unlock.devchd.com.
  4. High-resolution images for media use are available from Unlock’s Flickr account.
  5. Our guidance for charities is available to download from http://recruit.unlock.org.uk/guidance/charities/
  6. Our guidance for individuals is available from https://unlock.org.uk/advice/leading-charities-with-conviction/
  7. An online tool to help individuals work out if they’re affected is available at https://unlock.org.uk/information-and-advice//charitytool
  8. Landing page on our website – Changes to charity rules
  9. Details of the policy work we’ve been doing on the changes to the rules

 

Background

The current rules only apply to trustees. People with unspent convictions for certain offences, including dishonesty and deception offences, are prevented from being a trustee until they apply for, and are granted, clearance from the Charity Commission.

There are two main changes happening in August 2018:

  1. There are more offences covered – including people on the sex offenders register
  2. There are more roles covered – the rules will apply to senior manager positions such as chief executives and chief finance officers

Today we’ve published two pieces of guidance – one for charities and one for individuals – as well as a simple online tool that helps people work out if the changes affect them.

Monthly update – January 2018

We’ve just published our update for January 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. Some new information on the introduction of basic criminal record checks by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
  2. A personal story from a gentleman who trained to become a barber whilst in prison who’s gone on to provide opportunities for other people with convictions.
  3. A link to a discussion on theForum from somebody who wants help in expanding his social circle.
  4. Details of what to do if you’re interested in joining our Board of Trustees.

 

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 January 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.

 

Basic criminal record checks launched today by the DBS

From today, the 17th January 2018, basic criminal record checks can now be obtained directly from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

This is a significant development for both people with criminal records and employers in England & Wales.

Basic checks are a type of criminal record check that can be used by employers and other organisations, for example when they are recruiting staff. They can also be used by insurance companies in validating claims. Basic checks show any ‘unspent’ criminal records (as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974). Once a conviction or caution is ‘spent’, it no longer shows on a basic check.

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

“We cautiously welcome today’s news. A basic check from the DBS is long overdue, and it should help to make the system clearer, ensuring that employers carry out the appropriate levels of checks instead of carrying out standard or enhanced checks which can often be unlawful.

 

“However, we’re concerned about a number of aspects to the way the DBS plan to operate basic checks, including allowing them to be sent directly to an employer. This runs the risk of employers being sent information that they’re not entitled to see, and is why this practice was reversed in 2012 for standard and enhanced checks. We’ve raised these concerns with both the DBS and the Home Office, but for the time being we’re advising any individual that thinks they have a spent conviction to make sure they apply for a basic check directly from the DBS and get it sent to their home address.”

On a practical level, we’ve developed a landing page dedicated to basic DBS checks as a one-stop-shop for the latest information, advice and updates. It’s been written primarily for people with convictions, but with employers and others in mind too, covering things like:

  1. How to get a basic check
  2. Should the check be sent to the applicant or the employer?
  3. What are eCertificates & eResults?
  4. Our advice for individuals
  5. Our advice to employers

Why is this important?

  1. It’s been a long time coming – The introduction of basic checks has been in the business plan of the DBS since 2002 (back when it was the CRB, the Criminal Records Bureau).
  2. It’s highly likely to mean an overall increase in criminal record checks – The DBS is anticipating around 1.7 million basic checks in the first year. This compares to just under 1.2 million in 2015/16 when it was done by Disclosure Scotland.
  3. It means criminal record checks will be available online – The basic DBS check will be available in both paper form and online. The setting up of an online account (for both applicants and organisations) will allow access to what are referred to as “eCertificates”.
  4. It makes the type of DBS check being done even more important – Employers often refer to a role “involving a DBS check”. Up until now, reference to “a DBS check” could be taken as code for meaning a standard or enhanced check, which meant the disclosure of cautions and convictions, even once spent. Now, with the DBS doing a basic level check, it’s even more important that employers explain what type of check a specific role involves to make sure that applicants clearly understand what they need to disclose.
  5. It’ll hopefully reduce ineligible checks – We’ve been cautiously encouraging the introduction of basic checks as a key part of how to reduce the numbers of employers carrying out levels of checks (i.e. standard or enhanced checks) for roles that are not eligible for them.

We expect to learn more about the day-to-day practices of basic checks in the coming days, weeks and months. As we learn more, we’ll do our best to reflect this in our guidance.

For more information, and the latest details, visit our information page on basic DBS checks.

 

Changes to rules for charities and criminal records – coming soon

Changes to the ‘automatic disqualification’ rules that affect who can run a charity, and particularly people with criminal records, will come into force on 1st August 2018.

The current rules only apply to trustees. People with unspent convictions for certain offences, including dishonesty and deception offences, need to be granted a waiver from the Charity Commission before they can be a trustee.

There are two main changes happening in August this year:

  1. There are more offences covered – including people on the sex offenders register
  2. There are more roles covered – the rules will apply to certain senior manager positions such as chief executives and chief finance officers.

But don’t wait until August. People involved in charities need to work out if they’re affected, and charities will need to update their recruitment processes to reflect the changes to the rules.

If you will be disqualified when the new rules change on the 1st August, you can apply for a waiver of your disqualification by the Charity Commission from 1st February 2018. There’ll be an application form on their website from that date, and if you’re currently involved in a charity in a way that you’d be disqualified, you’ll need to apply for a waiver as soon as possible for you to continue after 1st August.

We’ve been aware of these upcoming changes for a couple of years, and we’ve been working with the Charity Commission to make sure that, given they were being implemented, the changes happened in a way that didn’t unnecessarily exclude people with convictions and that charities felt confident in understanding and applying the rules.

That’s why we’re publishing guidance for both charities and individuals, and this will be available from the 1st February. Updates can be found on our landing page for changes to charity rules or you can sign up to our mailing list.

 

Coverage

Third Sector

Civil Society

 

More information

  1. The Charity Commission announced these dates in their January 2018 news.
  2. Updates can be found on our landing page for changes to charity rules or you can sign up to our mailing list.
  3. Find out more about the policy work we’ve been doing on the changes to the rules.

Some examples of people we’ve helped

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped.

We hope they give a good idea of how we help people.

However, more importantly than our role, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers that have been put in their way due to their criminal record.

We’ve posted the examples below as case studies in the support section of our website:

 

Darpak – Confusing information on the internet made me question whether I’d be able to become a trustee

Sally – Choosing to disclose my conviction at the earliest opportunity meant that I was well prepared and ultimately got me a job as a prison officer

Kelvin – Contacting Unlock gave me the confidence to represent myself and appeal my SOPO in court

Derek – Becoming a local councillor and anomalies between the Electoral Commission guidance and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Danny – Failings in the DBS eligibility investigation process meant that my employers became aware of my spent conviction and terminated my contract

Andy – Failings in the DBS eligibility investigation process meant that an ineligible check was carried out leading me to resign from my job

 

 

Monthly update – December 2017

We’ve just published our update for December 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This months update includes:

  1. An advice post which sets out the new discretionary powers given to the police by the Home Office for dealing with ‘sexting’ offences.
  2. A personal story in which an individual with a criminal record tells how he received a shotgun licence after successfully appealing a blanket ban which prohibits anybody who has served a prison sentence from holding a licence for a certain period of time.
  3. A link to a discussion on theForum from somebody who has been dismissed by their employer after applying for a new role in the company which required them to have a formal criminal record check.
  4. Details of a briefing published by the Centre for Criminal and Justice Studies (CCJS).

 

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 December 2017 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.

 

Looking back at 2017 – A month-by-month review of our work and criminal record developments

With the Christmas break almost upon us and 2017 coming to an end, it’s a good time to reflect on the last 12 months work of the charity and the developments relating to criminal records.

Once again it’s been an incredibly busy year for Unlock, with lots of positive news and progress to report. We’ve continued to expand the information, advice and support we provide to help people overcome the stigma of their convictions:

  • We have yet again seen a year-on-year increase in the numbers of people accessing our helpline and websites. Building on last years’ unprecedented rise, our helpline will have dealt with over 7,500 enquiries in 2017, over 10% increase on last year.
  • The number of visitors to our information site has also continued to grow, with over 1.2 million people accessing the site this year, showing that last year was not a one-off when we hit over a million for the first time ever.
  • Our disclosure calculator will have helped over 50,000 people work out when their convictions become spent.

We’ve also strengthened our advocacy role by challenging discriminatory practices, supporting employers and influencing government policy. Recommendations by the Justice Committee and David Lammy on criminal records shows that the weight of support for reform is building.

That said, there continues to be new and extended policies and practices that treat people with convictions unfairly and effectively punish people long after they’ve served their sentence. In particular, the new year will see us dealing with the changes to charity rules that will impact on who can become a trustee or senior manager of a charity.

There’s then the small matter of a Supreme Court hearing in the summer of 2018, where the government is trying to appeal against a ruling that the current disclosure of old and minor criminal records is disproportionate and in need of reform.

This all means that, now more than ever, it’s vital that we continue to work hard to provide support and a voice for people with convictions, so we look forward to yet another strong year in 2018 and please help us to continue our work.

In the meantime, on behalf of all the staff and the board of trustees, I would like to wish the people we help, our volunteers, supporters and funders a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year.

Here’s a quick round-up of some of the key moments during the year:

In January, there was a second reading in the House of Lords of a Bill to amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. We also published a new ’10 things about criminal records’ guide for employability professionals.

In February, the Law Commission published a review of the DBS criminal record filtering system, which concluded that “the present system raises significant concerns in relation to ECHR non-compliance”  and that this “is an area of law in dire need of thorough and expert analysis. A mere technical fix is not sufficient to tackle such interwoven and large scale problems.”

Also in February, the DWP published an open recruitment employer guide. With a particular section on people with criminal records, it includes 7 top tips for employers that have been drawn from our principles of fair chance recruitment and lists six useful organisations, including Unlock.

In March, we gave evidence to the Justice Committee as part of their inquiry into the disclosure of youth criminal records.

In April, we started gathering examples of employers that have wrongly checked official criminal records.

In May, there was a landmark Court of Appeal ruling that rejected the Government’s appeal to a decision of the High Court in January 2016, which ruled that the criminal records disclosure scheme was disproportionate and unlawful.

Ahead of the general election in June, we published our top 4 priorities for the next government, including piloting tax incentives to encourage employers to recruit people with convictions and fundamentally reviewing the criminal record disclosure system.

In June, a Criminal Records Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords. Introduced by our president, Lord Ramsbotham, the Bill, which would shorten the rehabilitation periods that apply under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA), proposes a number of changes. One of the most significant elements is that sentences of over 4 years in prison would become spent 4 years after the end of the full sentence.

In July, we spoke in Parliament at the launch of new research about the impact of criminal records on women trying to exit prostitution.

In August, we developed new information dedicated to the launch of basic DBS checks which started the following month.

In September, we responded to the report by David Lammy MP and his recommendations for reform to the criminal records disclosure regime. The Independent published our letter which supported his proposal of a sealing process. We also published new research which highlighted how insurance companies are breaking the law by taking into account old criminal records

In October, the Justice Committee published its report into the disclosure of youth criminal records, which we had lobbied them to carry out. The Independent published a letter from us arguing that forcing adults to admit to petty crime from their teen years is unfair and counter-productive.

In November, the Observer published an article titled ’Irrelevant’ criminal record checks harm ex-offenders’ job hopes. We were quoted as saying that “This can affect somebody who stole two chocolate bars when they were 14 and they’re now in their 50s. Having to relive one of the worst moments in their lives by explaining it to a stranger puts a lot of people off applying and unnecessarily anchors people to their past. The routine rejection by employers locks people out of the labour market and has a considerable financial cost to society through out-of-work benefits.”

In December, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published a briefing, which Unlock supported, that found that three-quarters of a million criminal records that are more than a decade old are being revealed to employers on DBS checks each year.

New briefing published – “Criminal record checks: is the volume of disclosures proportionate?”

Three-quarters of a million criminal records that are more than a decade old are being revealed to employers on DBS checks each year. That’s one of the findings of a new briefing published by the Centre for Criminal and Justice Studies (CCJS).

The research, which we have supported, was featured in The Observer on Sunday 26th November. The article looked at the need to reform the disclosure rules that are unnecessarily holding people with convictions back, and featured a quote from Unlock’s co-director, Christopher Stacey.

Over four million roles every year involve an enhanced DBS check, and although these were designed for jobs that involve close contact with children and vulnerable groups, it’s gone way beyond that now. Unlock regularly gets contacted by people who have been asked to do an enhanced check to be a delivery driver or a receptionist.

This can affect somebody who stole two chocolate bars when they were 14 and they’re now in their 50s. Having to relive one of the worst moments in their lives by explaining it to a stranger puts a lot of people off applying and unnecessarily anchors people to their past. The routine rejection by employers locks people out of the labour market and has a considerable financial cost to society through out-of-work benefits.

Unlock has called for reforms to the DBS filtering process, as well as the introduction of a criminal records tribunal, so individuals could apply not to have their criminal records disclosed in particular circumstances.

 

More information

  1. The briefing can be downloaded here.

Decade-old criminal record disclosures? The need for reform

With the disclosure of old and irrelevant criminal records in the spotlight, Christopher Stacey looks at how the system is unfairly holding people back

Over four million jobs every year involve employers requesting an enhanced criminal record from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Although these were originally for roles that involve close contact with children and vulnerable groups, the types of positions that often involve them has now gone way beyond the core purpose. For example, Unlock is regularly contacted by people who have been told they need an enhanced check for a job, for example, as a delivery driver or a receptionist.

These checks alone would not be so much of an issue, if it were not for the fact that, given the current rules for disclosing old and minor criminal records, it means that around 250,000 people every year are affected by old and minor cautions and convictions being revealed on enhanced DBS checks.

Couple that with the known negative reactions (and often blanket policies) of employers towards applicants with a criminal record, it is unsurprising that they are the least likely ‘disadvantaged group’ to be employed.

Against unnecessary disclosure

We need to make sure that enhanced DBS checks do not unnecessarily disclose information that is old, minor or irrelevant to the job being sought. Up until now, there has been very little detail on what type of information gets disclosed on DBS checks, which is why the briefing published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is so welcome.

The research shows that in 2015, over one million criminal records were disclosed on standard or enhanced checks. Yet nearly three-quarters of those criminal records (742,482) were more than ten years old.

We know that the length of time since their last offence is one of the most important factors in establishing the likelihood of someone committing an offence in the future, so why is it that these criminal records are being disclosed over a decade later?

The desperate need for reform

The crux of the issue are the current ‘filtering’ rules. Although these are complex, they essentially mean that if someone has a certain criminal record, it will be disclosed on an enhanced DBS for the rest of their life. This includes someone:

  1. With more than one conviction on their record, or
  2. has been cautioned or convicted for a certain type of offence (there are over 1,000 of these, including aggravated bodily harm and soliciting for the purposes of prostitution), or
  3. who has received any type of prison (or suspended prison) sentence.

This can affect somebody who stole two chocolate bars when they were 14 and who is now in their fifties. This puts a lot of people off applying and unnecessarily anchors people to their past. The routine rejection by employers locks people out of the labour market and has a considerable financial cost to society through out-of-work benefits.

At Unlock, we have argued that the filtering rules are in desperate need of reform. Earlier this year, Court of Appeal agreed, ruling that the current system is disproportionate and not in accordance with the law. The government is dragging its heels by appealing to the Supreme Court. It is clearly not listening to the compelling evidence that shows the significant and unnecessary barriers to rehabilitation that the current regime is creating.

Recent reports by David Lammy MP and the Justice Committee have also added weight to the need for changes.

It is common sense that certain offences need to be disclosed to employers. But we should not be unnecessarily blighting the lives of people who are trying to move on, by disclosing old, minor or irrelevant information that holds them back and stops them from reaching their potential.

A fairer and more flexible system would be one with expanded automatic filtering rules and a discretionary filtering process, with a review mechanism so that individual circumstances can be considered.

Alongside changes to the filtering rules, Unlock has long supported the introduction of a criminal records tribunal. This would allow enable individuals to apply for an end on the disclosure of their criminal record to employers on a relevant criminal record check.

There is evidence from overseas that this approach works. It would help to address the injustice that many people face as a result of what are currently arbitrary, fixed rules that take no account of the positive steps that people have taken since the actions that resulted in their receiving a criminal record.

 

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