Monthly summary – March 2019

Welcome to our monthly summary for March 2019.

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

• Applying to come off the Sex Offenders Register if you’re on it indefinitely – We’ve written an advice post setting out how police forces across the UK deal with applications to be removed from the Sex Offenders Register if you’ve got an indefinite notification.
• The impact of a motoring conviction on your criminal record – We’ve written a further article for InsideTime ‘Through the Gate’ section which focuses on how a motoring conviction can impact on your criminal record.
• Organisations that have access to the Police National Computer (PNC) – We’ve updated this page, specifically the section on non-police organisations who have restricted access to the PNC.

Work and volunteering

• Looking for friendly employers – Over the last few months, some of the organisations on our list of friendly employers have amalgamated or changed names. We’ve amended this page to reflect the various changes.

Banking

• Identification (ID) for opening a bank account – This page has been updated to make it easier to navigate.

Other areas of life

• Sources of identification – We’ve updated this page which now includes additional information in relation to applying for a Citizencard.

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.

News and views – Has ‘Ban the Box’ turned a job interview into another courtroom? – “For anybody that doesn’t know, ‘Ban the Box’ is an initiative that encourages businesses to stop asking ‘Do you have any criminal convictions?’ and including a tick box on their application forms. This box makes it far too easy for employers to immediately bin job applicants that have a criminal record, even if minor or long ago. Ban the Box means each applicant can be evaluated as an individual, on merit, rather than immediately dismissed as an ex-offender …..”

Success – Disclosing convictions received during my employment – “I’d worked for my employer for over 5 years. I’d had regular DBS checks which always came back ‘clean’ and assumed that would continue to be the case. However, for reasons I won’t go into now, things really changed for me in 2018 and I received a couple of convictions over the course of eight months …..”

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.

Settled and pre-settled status for EU citizens and criminal records – Miguel needs to apply for settled status and wants to make sure that he discloses the correct information. Can anybody give him any advice?

Can MOSOVO officers be offered evidence that disclosure is unnecessary? – Blackbird was given a SHPO pertaining to the use of devices that connect to the internet and has been told by the police that he needs to disclose this to his new employer. Has anybody had any experience of negotiating the necessity around disclosure with the police, maybe by offering them access to a work laptop? Any thoughts anyone?

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.

Book now for our criminal record disclosure training on 24th April 2019

Our next ‘criminal record disclosure’ training workshop is on the 24th April. Find out how to book along with details of alternative dates.