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

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. However, more importantly than our role, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers

As part of his sentence in 2012, Joseph was put on the Sex Offenders Register for five years and given an indefinite SOPO. Whilst he’d always been concerned that there were some fundamental flaws with the SOPO, he’d been advised to ‘live with it’. As 6 years had passed since the conviction, Joseph was considering

Alice had been employed as a care support worker for 15 years during which time she’d worked for several different companies who were responsible for running a care home contract. They’d all been aware of her historic (over 30 years old) convictions and had always risk assessed her as ‘posing no threat to clients’. However,

Wayne had been working as a consultant for several years when he was offered a paid job working for one of his clients. After accepting the job he’d been told that he would be working on a government contract and would need security clearance. Wayne contacted our helpline and explained that he had two convictions which

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. However, more importantly than our role, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers

Following receipt of a caution for ABH, Albert contacted our helpline as he was extremely concerned that his caution could affect his daughter’s current job. Albert stated that his daughter was working in a nursery and had been told by her manager that it was company policy that if any member of her household was arrested

Celine contacted our helpline after both her son and daughter had been suspended from their teaching roles under the Disqualification by Association (DbA) requirements because they had returned to live with her. Having recently been released from prison, Celine’s conviction was unspent and, as her children both taught under 8’s they were suspended from teaching until

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

Paul contacted our helpline after a major insurance company cancelled his motor insurance policy as they believed that he’d failed to disclose an unspent conviction. Paul had been careful to ensure that his policy started on the day his conviction became spent so that he wouldn’t have any need to disclose it. We confirmed that based

Wendy contacted our helpline following the offer of a teaching role in a local school. She’d just received her enhanced DBS certificate and was shocked to see that a conviction she’d received 22 years ago was disclosed on it. Wendy explained that prior to applying for the job she’d contacted the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)