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Our mission is to support & advocate for people with criminal records to be able to move on positively in their lives. Find out more

Monthly summary – December 2016

Welcome to our monthly summary for December 2016.

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. 

Sexual offences

  • Relationships, children and dealing with social services – We’ve produced some new information which looks at what you may need to consider if you’ve been convicted of a sexual offence and are looking to start a new relationship. It also deals with how social services may become involved in any new or existing relationship where there are children involved.
  • General information about sexual offences and sex offence notification requirements – We’ve updated both of these pages to make them easier to navigate and added links to other relevant parts of our site.

Barring

  • Barring (Children’s Barred List and Adult’s Barred List) – We’ve updated our information on barring to include details of how the DBS may consider adding you to a barred list if you’ve been cautioned or convicted of an automatic inclusion offence (irrespective of when it was) and are applying for an enhanced DBS check.

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 – My world’s just got bigger – disclosing my conviction to a new partner and travelling to Canada – ‘I’d been seeing Michael for a couple of months and enjoyed his company. We liked the same things – going for walks, nice meals, dancing. It wasn’t love at first sight but I’m 67 so not surprising really …..’

Success – What I wish I’d known 8 years ago – moving on with a spent conviction – ‘Recently I applied for a volunteering job at Unlock. I filled in my application form, had an interview and was invited along to do a couple of ‘taster-days’. The purpose of these are for Unlock to understand your skills but more importantly for you to decide whether the role is right for you …..’

 

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.

Completing a Canadian ETA – Effiew has raised a query around applying for an ETA to travel to Canada. If you’ve been through the process, share your experiences here.

Employers and DBS checks – bd7771 has commented on the number of employers that carry out criminal record checks. Post your comments here.

 

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.

Unlock’s evidence to the Justice Committee inquiry into Youth Criminal Records

Our evidence to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into the disclosure of Youth Criminal Records has now been published on the Parliament website. As part of the inquiry, we also took a small group of people with convictions to a private session with the Justice Committee. Find out more about this work here.

Unlock welcomes Nick Hardwick as a new Patron

Nick Hardwick, the former Chief Inspector of HM Prisons has been appointed a Patron of Unlock. Find out what Nick says about joining the Unlock team.

Some examples of people we’ve helped

We’ve produced some case studies showing how people with convictions have been able to overcome some of the barriers they’ve faced as a result of their criminal record.

Government should consider a statutory “ban the box” for all employers and improve the support to people released from prison

The Work and Pensions Committee have published a report calling on the government to drastically improve the support provided to people released from prison and to do more to encourage employers to recruit people with convictions. Read Christopher Stacey’s comments here.

Looking back at some key moments in 2016

Read Christopher Stacey’s blog in which he reflects on our work month-by-month during 2016.

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Photo of Head of Advice, Debbie Sadler
Debbie Sadler
Head of Advice

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