Monthly summary – July 2017

Welcome to our monthly summary for July 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

• Disregards and pardons: Removing historical convictions and cautions for consensual gay sex from criminal records – We’ve updated this page to provide figures from the Home Office giving a breakdown of the number of disregard applications received since 2012 and details of the numbers which have been accepted or rejected.
• Barring (Children’s Barred List and Adult’s Barred List) – Following an increased number of calls to our helpline from people who are being considered for barring by the DBS, we’ve reviewed this page to make it easier to navigate.
• DNA retention – We’ve added some new links on this page to the National Police Chief’s Council guidance on the deletion of records from National Police systems.
• Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO) – As a result of a Freedom of Information request made by the BBC, we’ve set out details of the number of CBO’s currently in place and which police forces they were issued by.

Work and volunteering

• Are there advantages of disclosing your criminal record to your jobcentre/work programme provider – We’ve written an advice post which sets out the advantages of voluntarily disclosing details of your convictions if you’re not asked to do so.

Motoring offences

• Hiring a car if you have a criminal record – We’ve produced a new, short information page on how a criminal record can impact on your ability to hire a car.

Criminal Justice System

• Complaints about probation – As a result of changes to the Probation Service in 2015, we’ve incorporated some additional information to this page on making a complaint about a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC).

Quick links

• Important links and organisations – We’ve added a new section on counselling services to our list of important organisations.

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 – A long criminal record doesn’t have to stop you succeeding – My experience of working with young and vulnerable adults– ‘What can I say about my childhood – it wasn’t great to be honest. I was the middle of three kids, all born within 4 years of each other and my mum was a typical caring woman whilst my dad was a real disciplinarian (probably due to his having served in the army for many years) …..’

Struggles and stigma – Life after receiving a conviction for a sexual offence– ‘I was convicted of possessing a small number (not that numbers are important) of indecent images of children in 2016, following a search of my flat in 2014. The 22 months in between are indescribable. When my case eventually reached court, I was relieved that I wasn’t given a custodial sentence but my life had pretty much ended anyway …..’

Success – Banking on a new start – advice on opening a bank account with a criminal record– ‘For anybody that’s ever been to prison, you’ll know that all the time you’re there you lose all sense of personal identity and become a number for the duration of the stay …..’

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.

Welcome to theForum – Let’s be sociable! Introduce yourself – We’re really keen that our forum becomes an active online community. So whether you’ve only just joined or been a member for years, we’d like to know a bit more about you and what you’d like to get from the forum. Tell us about yourself.

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.

Summer 2017 Newsletter – What we’ve been up to

We’ve published our summer newsletter which provides an update on the news from Unlock in the last 3 months. A copy of the newsletter is available to download.

Some examples of people we’ve helped

We’ve written up some examples of people with convictions we’ve helped to overcome some of the barriers put in their way due to their criminal record. Read the case studies in full here.

Blog – Eastenders, DBS checks and decriminalised offences

Christopher Stacey’s latest blog looks at whether the supermarket in Eastenders broke the law in doing a DBS check and why a historic decriminalised offence was disclosed on his certificate.

New research about the impact of criminal records on women trying to exit prostitution

The charity nia, has just published its report ‘I’m no criminal’ which examines the impact of prostitution-specific criminal records on women seeking to exit prostitution. Read Christopher Stacey’s comments here.