Summary of updates – January 2015

Here’s a summary of the updates that we’ve made recently to our Information Hub.

About criminal records

• Criminal Behaviour Orders – These were introduced in October 2014 replacing Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and can be made following a conviction. An order is additional to the sentence given for the criminal offence. More information can be found here.  Have you received one of these orders? Discuss this on our online forum.
• Convictions obtained overseas – We have updated our information on convictions obtained overseas, which explains the system for sharing information about criminal convictions between EU Member States, non-EU countries and the UK.
• Police Certificates – In response to enquiries about Police Certificates which state ‘No Live Trace’, we have set out some brief information explaining why this may be the case and, if the Certificate is for travel purposes, what you will need to do to get supporting information.
• Basic disclosures – If you’re applying for a job at a new company and it involves a basic disclosure, you might want to be aware that a high proportion of basic applications that employers apply for go via the ‘bulk electronic’ process which is likely to mean that although the disclosure will be addressed to you, it will be sent to the employers address. This may result in the employer opening it, particularly if you have given your consent for them to do this. Other employers might simply request that you apply for the disclosure, but put their address down as the ‘care of’ address. This makes it even more important that you make sure that you find out about your criminal record before applying for specific roles, and being clear which ones are spent and which ones will come back on a basic disclosure. More information on basic disclosures here.  You can discuss this on our online forum.

The criminal justice system

• MAPPA – We often receive enquiries about disclosure of information to third parties from people who are subject to MAPPA. Details of how and when the police or probation may choose to disclose to third parties or family members can be found here.

Insurance

• We have updated our list of insurance brokers to add a couple of new brokers who can help people with unspent convictions.

Work and Volunteering

• Financial Services sector – There is often confusion around which roles within the financial services sector perform a ‘controlled function’ and would therefore be exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Some brief information and contact details for the FCA can be found here.
• Volunteering – A document produced by the Institute for Volunteering Research – ‘Helping young adults with offending histories volunteer’ can be downloaded from the ‘useful resources’ section of our page on volunteering.