Monthly summary – August 2017

Welcome to our monthly summary for August 2017.

This 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 people with a criminal record

Have you just stumbled across this? You can receive these updates direct to your inbox every month for free by signing up to our mailing list (make sure you choose to receive ‘news for people with convictions’)

Updates to our information site

Here’s a summary of the updates that we’ve made recently to the theInformationHub. There are links within each update to where you can find more information about the update. There are also links next to many of the updates, which link to threads on our online forum where you can discuss these with other people with convictions. 

About criminal records

• Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPO) – We’ve produced some new information which sets out the circumstances whereby a Court would give a SCPO and examples of the conditions that it may contain.

Work and volunteering

• Disclosing a conviction you don’t believe you’re guilty of – We’ve written an advice post detailing ways of disclosing your criminal record if you don’t believe you’ve done anything wrong.

Travel

• Travelling to the US – We’ve updated our existing information with a new information page specifically for travelling to the US. We’ve also created four separate (but linked) pages which we hope will make it easier to find what you’re looking for:
  1. Do I need a visa?
  2. Travelling without a visa
  3. Applying for a visa
  4. Will I get a visa?

Prison issues

• Working for an outside employer while still in prison – We’ve updated this page which includes a Victims Levy Calculator to help you work out how much of your wages will be deducted when you start working outside of the prison.

For family members of people with convictions

• We’ve developed a new information page bringing together links to information, resources and useful contacts which may be helpful to family members of people with convictions.

theRecord posts

Below are links to recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord. These are often linked to from the practical information that we have, to help give some personal experiences.

Success – Getting permission from probation to return overseas to my husband and family – “To say that I’ve had the year from hell is an understatement. At the beginning of the year I was convicted of a white collar crime and given a suspended sentence and 300 hours of unpaid work. Up until the time I was arrested, I’d been living with my husband 5,000 miles away from the UK but whilst awaiting my court appearance and sentencing I hadn’t been allowed to leave the UK …..’

Struggles and stigma – Struggling to find work with a life sentence – “In 1999 I was tried and convicted of murder. I had never been in trouble before and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I will never re-offend. A moment of complete and utter madness led me to doing something that I never thought possible …..’

Success – Overcoming my lack of confidence to get my dream job – working as a teaching assistant – “Ever since I can remember I have loved teaching, forever holding pretend classes and showing my younger siblings how to do things …..’

Discussions on our online forum

Below are links to recent posts to our online forum. If you’d like to join in the discussion but are not currently a forum member, find out how you can join here.

Post Brexit impact on travelling to Europe – Normallife has expressed his concerns about the ability to move and live in Europe when we leave the EU. Is this something that you’re worried about? Let us have your thoughts.

Confused – Peter wanted some advice on changing his probation officer and taking his complaint to the Probation Ombudsman. Do you have any advice you can offer? 

Other news and developments

Below are links to other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record. For more news, check out the news and media section of our main website.

Basic DBS checks are coming soon – find out more

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is introducing basic criminal record checks for people in England and Wales. Basic checks disclose unspent convictions but not ones that have become spent. This replaces the service previously provided by Disclosure Scotland. Find our more information here.