Find out the latest updates to hub.unlock.org.uk
As part of our Fair Access to Employment project we’re looking for examples of employers who have carried out inappropriate levels of criminal record checks. We’re gathering this information to feed into our legal strategy which aims to put an end to unlawful criminal record checks. We’re especially keen to hear from anyone who believes […]
This month we’ve written a further article for Insidetime ‘Through the Gate’ Section which provides information on the type of criminal record checks that employers carry out and what is disclosed on them. As your release date gets closer, understandably your thoughts will probably be turning to employment. For anybody with a criminal record, the […]
Welcome to our monthly summary for August 2020. This provides a summary of: the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord discussions on our online forum other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record. Have you stumbled […]
If you want to find the best way of disclosing your criminal record to an employer, then a quick internet search will give you pages of results. With your career and financial security potentially dependent on getting it right, it’s good that there’s so much information and advice available. But if you’re trying to find […]
Welcome to our monthly summary for July 2020. This provides a summary of: the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord discussions on our online forum other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record. Have you stumbled […]
In 2015 the Ministry of Justice introduced the Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) to speed up the processing of less serious offences such as rail fare avoidance and minor driving offences. We’ve produced some new information on the SJPN process. While the process streamlines the court process at an administrative level there are some concerns […]
If you’ve been convicted of a sexual offence abroad then it’s important to know that you could be made subject to notification requirements in England and Wales. The process is not always straightforward and the police will need to look at the offence that has been committed, especially where it does not exactly mirror an […]
On the 30 January 2019, the Supreme Court directed the government to fix the broken Disclosure and Barring Service system. The Supreme Court ruled that two aspects of the filtering regime – as it applied to multiple convictions and childhood cautions – was disproportionate and in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on […]
Welcome to our monthly summary for June 2020. This provides a summary of: the latest updates to our self-help information site for people with convictions recent posts to our online magazine, theRecord discussions on our online forum other news and developments that might be of interest to people with a criminal record. Have you stumbled […]
As the UK went into lock-down in March 2020, Unlock came to the end of another financial year. In the year April 2019 to March 2020, our helpline was contacted by 7,803 people, 87% of whom had a criminal record. Our information hub was visited by 1,132,371 and 45,761 people used our disclosure calculator. Have […]
Our helpline regularly receives contact from individuals concerned to find that a conviction they’d believed was spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is still showing on their basic DBS certificate. There are many reasons why this might be the case, but one of the things that our helpline advisors will ask is whether […]
Changes to the DBS filtering rules -
Will you still need to disclose your criminal record?
Read our response to the government's plans, and find out more about the impact of these changes will have on you. There's also a brief guide available to download.