Pardons for historic gay convictions: a call for evidence
Monday, 07 December 2020
It is quite rare for any government to admit to some historic wrongdoing, and even more so to take some concrete efforts to tackle it. When the government announced that it would be creating a process for gay and bisexual men to have their certain convictions removed from the record, this was a unique opportunity
- Published in Decriminalised gay sex offences, Latest, News @ Unlock
A momentous day for tens of thousands of people with old and minor criminal records
Saturday, 28 November 2020
Today is a momentous day for tens of thousands of people with old and minor criminal records. The stigma and embarrassment of a criminal record means many people simply don’t apply for jobs or voluntary roles that would require them to disclose their old and minor convictions or cautions. It’s a toxic form of punishment
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, News & Media, Policy successes, Unlock's blog, Way DBS work, What DBS disclose
Government announces date when planned changes to criminal record disclosure rules will take effect
Thursday, 19 November 2020
The government has today confirmed that planned changes to the rules on filtering will come into effect on Saturday 28 November. After years of campaigning for change, and after many months of holding the government to account on the implementation of the changes, the news was confirmed in a letter to Unlock from the Home
- Published in Latest, News @ Unlock, Policy successes, Way DBS work
Unlock’s response to Ministry of Justice plans to make reforms to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Commenting on today’s announcement (16 September) by the Ministry of Justice on plans to make changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the disclosure of criminal records, Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said: Unlock very much welcomes and supports today’s announcement by the Justice Secretary that disclosure periods for criminal records will be reduced. If these
- Published in Latest, Press releases and comment, Way ROA works, When spent
New report highlights potentially hundreds of unlawful criminal record checks by employers each year
Friday, 31 July 2020
Unlock, a national advocacy charity for people with criminal records, has today published Checked out?, a report on so-called ‘ineligible’ criminal record checks, submitted by employers and processed by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 allows some criminal records to become spent after a crime-free period. This means they are no
Case study – Julian – Extra costs and the possible loss of a job because my records didn’t show I’d paid my compensation order
Friday, 31 July 2020
In 2009 Julian was convicted of ABH and received a community order together with a £1,000 compensation order which he paid immediately. After waiting the 5 years for his conviction to become spent (this was prior to the changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act in 2014) Julian applied to Disclosure Scotland (who were responsible
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
Case study – Toby – Failure of the system to amend a restraining order has led to the loss of several jobs
Friday, 31 July 2020
Toby contacted our helpline for some advice regarding a restraining order which he’d received in 2010. He explained that he had originally been given an ‘indefinite’ order which his solicitor considered to be excessive. An application was made to the Court to amend the order whereupon it was changed to 2 years. Since then Toby
- Published in Policy cases, What DBS disclose
What is the rationale behind the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?
Thursday, 16 July 2020
In a week where the Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland, said that he was preparing a policy that looked at making changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA), we’re pleased to publish a paper by Dr Andrew Henley (Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Nottingham) on the rationale behind that piece of
Government responds to Supreme Court ruling with plans to change criminal records disclosure regime
Thursday, 09 July 2020
Responding to government plans to change the criminal records disclosure regime to address the Supreme Court judgment in the case of P and Others v SSHD & SSJ (the ruling on the filtering system and the disclosure of criminal records), Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, said: “We welcome the government’s intention to fully comply with the Supreme Court ruling on filtering. Unlock
Unlock cautiously welcomes incentives for employers who take on young adults
Thursday, 09 July 2020
Unlock welcomes the Chancellor’s summer statement, in particular, incentivising employers to create training placements and apprenticeships for young adults. This age group has been significantly affected by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic – by mid-June, around a third of 18-24 year olds had been furloughed or made redundant. The ‘Kickstart’ scheme means 16-24 year
- Published in Childhood criminal records, financial incentives, Latest, What DBS disclose
MP puts #FairChecks on Boris Johnson’s radar
Friday, 03 July 2020
Boris Johnson was called out this week for “dithering” in sorting out our “damaging and discriminatory” criminal records system. At Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, John Spellar MP, who represents Warley constituency, called for Boris Johnson to “sort out this scandal now”. The Prime Minister conceded there are issues with the system that need looking at
- Published in Campaigns, Childhood criminal records, Latest, News & Media, News on policy issues, What DBS disclose
Has an employer wrongly carried out a standard or enhanced DBS check?
Saturday, 20 June 2020
As part of our fair access to employment project we’re gathering information on employers who have carried out standard or enhanced checks where only a basic is legally permitted. For some jobs, employers are allowed to consider cautions and spent convictions (unless they have been filtered). Employers recruiting for these jobs are legally permitted to
- Published in Ineligible checks, Stop ineligible checks, What DBS disclose