The latest blog by Christopher Stacey looks at whether the supermarket in EastEnders broke the law in doing a DBS on Derek? And why did a historic decriminalised offence show up on his disclosure? Read it here.

‘Through the gate’ services are failing to support people into employment. That’s one of the conclusions in a report published last week by HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Prisons into the ‘through the gate resettlement services’ that were introduced in 2015 and run by newly formed ‘Community Rehabilitation Companies’ (CRCs). Right from

People with criminal records – An untapped talent pool that has been ignored for too long There are over 10.5 million people in England & Wales with a criminal record, and many find themselves treated unfairly and unnecessarily held back in life because of their past. Government has a role to play in finding solutions.

With the Christmas break almost here and 2016 coming to an end, I wanted to write a short blog to reflect month-by-month on our work over the last 12 months. Overall, it’s yet again been an incredibly busy year for Unlock with lots of positive news and progress to report. We’ve had an addition to

There’s a talent pool of over 10.5 million people that many companies are overlooking. People with criminal records make good employees. This new website that we’re launching today helps employers to make sure they’re not missing out on the diverse skills and experience of people with criminal records. With over 750,000 unfilled job vacancies in

Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority published an occasional paper on access to financial services. I fed into this work, particularly focusing on the issues people with convictions face in accessing insurance. So it was good to see the authors include an especially challenging section of the report focused at a lack of buy-in to

Whilst government announcements last month to reform prisons and improve prisoner education are welcomed, much more needs to be done to encourage and support employers to recruit people with a criminal record. Employers like Timpsons and Greggs have shown that people with convictions can make fantastic employees and that there is actually a business as

              Mainstream home and car insurers have a blanket ban on people with unspent convictions – these kinds of policies are unfair and sometimes illegal To many of the 1.2 million people convicted in court each year, it comes as a surprise to find that if they try to

Quite understandably, David Cameron’s speech on Monday was applauded for being the first one dedicated to prison reform by a Prime Minister in over 20 years. Interestingly though, as he set out his ‘agenda for a revolution in the prison system’, one of the things that caught Unlock’s attention appeared towards the end of his

With the Christmas break almost upon us and 2015 coming to an end, we wanted to write a short note to reflect on the last 12 months. Yet again, it’s been an incredibly successful and busy year for Unlock with lots of positive news and progress to report. We’ve continued to expand the information, advice

The High Court will tomorrow hear a legal challenge, with the support of Unlock, to the Government’s criminal records disclosure scheme. There are two cases being heard on Tuesday 8th December, both focusing on how the system forces people with more than one conviction to disclose them forever when applying for areas of work that involve standard or enhanced

Unlock has now been a charity for fifteen years. To mark the occasion, supporters and beneficiaries joined staff, trustees, patrons, Peers and volunteers at a reception hosted by our President, Lord Ramsbotham. With the kind permission of The Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza, Lord Ramsbotham sponsored our use of the stunning House of Lords River Room; a