Details of our latest advice for people with criminal records
Although Unlock as a charity primarily focuses on people with convictions and cautions, a recent case about a rape acquittal is an important one for a lot of people that use our website that have other things on their police record. At the end of July 2018 a case was heard in the Supreme Court […]
This month, we’ve written a further article for InsideTime ‘Through the Gate’ Section which focuses on travelling abroad with a criminal record. A copy of the article can be found below. Whilst you’re in prison, you’ll probably have heard lots of conflicting information about travelling abroad with a criminal record. Unless you’re on licence, there’s […]
Conditional cautions like simple cautions may be filtered from standard and enhanced DBS certificates after 6 years, providing you’ve not been cautioned for a non-filterable offence. However, our helpline has been contacted recently by several people who’ve had conditional cautions which are eligible for filtering disclosed on their enhanced DBS certificate as a conviction. Further […]
On the 25th May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) come into effect, changing the way that personal data is protected. Your right to request information about your personal data will remain relatively unchanged. However, the previous fee of £10 for a Subject Access Request (SAR) has been abolished, meaning that SAR’s will now […]
We all know that using a comparison website is a really quick and easy way of getting a range of quotes for things like insurance or other utilities. However, if you’ve got an unspent conviction then using a comparison website may not be the best option for you and we’d always advise that you contact […]
This month, we’ve written a further article for InsideTime ‘Through the Gate’ Section which focuses on employment after release. A copy of the article can be found below. On release from prison, and possibly for some time after, your conviction will be technically ‘unspent’ – this means you’ll need to disclose it to an employer […]
This month, we’ve written another article for Inside Times ‘Through the Gate’ section which focuses on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. A copy of the article can be found below. How do I know when my conviction will become spent and what will that mean for me? The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA) gives […]
From today, the 17th January 2018, basic criminal record checks can now be obtained directly from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) This is a significant development for both people with criminal records and employers in England & Wales. Basic checks are a type of criminal record check that can be used by employers and […]
‘Sexting’, defined as ‘the taking and sharing of sexual images of children by children’ is seen by many as being pretty harmless. However, in the eyes of the law, it is illegal. Doing any of the following means that you’ll probably be deemed to be breaking the law: Take an explicit photograph or video of […]
In their guidance to employers for the update service, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) state that: An employer can check someone’s DBS certificate status online and get a result straight away” This ability to check someone’s criminal record quickly and start them working almost immediately is seen as a benefit to employers. Many employers […]
In 2020/21 our helpline assisted over 8,000 individuals and over 1.1 million people visited our InformationHub site.
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