We were recently contacted by an insurance broker who wished to place an advert on our online magazine, theRecord. In line with our standard procedures, we reviewed the insurer’s website to ensure that they were a reputable company and able to help people with convictions. Although the organisation were offering a range of products suitable

We were recently contacted by an individual who wished to highlight some out of date information which he’d seen on the website of a courier company in relation to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. In an FAQ on their careers website, the company had posed the following question: “What’s is meant by an unspent

We were recently contacted by an individual who raised concerns about a misleading question and statement around criminal record checks on a music schools application form. The majority of roles being advertised by the music school were teaching roles which would be eligible for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. However, neither the question

Our helpline was recently contacted by an individual who wanted to highlight a question being asked about criminal records by a professional body on their application form. The individual believed that this question was potentially very misleading as it asked: “Have you ever received a caution or conviction for a criminal record?” We informed the

We were contacted recently by an individual who was concerned about the criminal record question being asked on a Council’s housing reference form and the fact that the Council were asking applicants to give authorisation to the Council to carry out a police check. The question relating to criminal records asked: “Have you been convicted

We were recently contacted by an individual who was concerned about a question relating to criminal records on a generic college application form. This asked: “Do you have any criminal convictions, cautions, reprimands, final warnings or prosecutions pending?” The individual felt that the college should be a lot more specific about what they needed an

We were contacted recently by an individual who wanted some advice about answering a criminal record question being asked by a housing provider on their housing application form. The question on the application form stated:   Have you or any member of your household ever been convicted of a criminal offence?  Yes/No   The individual

Our helpline was contacted recently by a probation officer who was working with an individual looking to apply for a college course. She believed that the wording on the application form was unclear as the question asked:   Please declare whether you have any relevant* convictions or current proceedings against you:  Yes/No   *Relevant proceedings or

We were contacted by an individual after she’d been dismissed from her job as a receptionist with a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC). When she’d applied for the job, she was aware that she’d need a basic DBS check and, as her conviction was spent, she didn’t disclose it to the employer. However, after starting the

We were recently contacted by an individual who had some concerns about the question relating to criminal convictions on the application form to join a professional body. The question asked: ‘I have been convicted of a criminal offence       Yes / No’ The organisation stated that they would be carrying out a standard Disclosure

A few years ago a member of staff of a housing provider who had attended one of our training courses forwarded us a copy of their organisation’s housing allocations policy and application forms. As a result of the training they’d received, they were concerned that their documentation may not be compliant with the Rehabilitation of

In August 2016, we were made aware of a declaration on a building societies corporate ‘buy to let’ mortgage application form which we believed could be misleading. This stated:   I declare that, if I have been convicted of, or cautioned for (or charged but not yet tried with) fraud, arson, robbery or any other