Lifelong consequences

A Fairchecks supporter “John”, who was in care all his childhood, kicked off once in his children’s home, was convicted of affray and served a community sentence. He is now in his 40s and a successful chief financial officer of an insurance company. Financial services jobs require “standard” DBS criminal records checks, which reveal more than basic checks. “John” has lost count of the number of times he has had to explain to bewildered employers what affray is, and why he got convicted of the crime aged 15. The crime is totally irrelevant to his current life and his career. So weary is he of re-hashing his traumatic past in front of strangers that he is thinking of throwing in the towel – of giving up his career.

Lasting impact

For many people the impact of a criminal record is worse than the original punishment. At least a sentence comes to an end. But a prank like setting fire to a rubbish bin, or mooning, will be disclosed for ever if you are convicted as a child, even if you received an absolute discharge, the least punitive court sanction. The record will only come up for ever on some checks – standard and enhanced DBS checks – but 4.5 million such checks are done every year. If you want to volunteer to read at your children’s school, or apply to be a doctor, or to offer guitar lessons to teenagers you might not get offered the role because an old and/or minor offence appears on your criminal record. Employers aren’t banned from taking on people with criminal records, but many just perceive it as a risk not worth taking. Department for Work and Pensions analysis found that a criminal record was the second most frequently cited barrier to hiring people from disadvantaged groups – reported by 47% of employers.

White paper

The government’s youth justice white paper reveals light at the end of the tunnel: “We need to ensure that individuals do not unnecessarily face repercussions for things they did as children after they have grown up and left their offending behind”. The Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy has been a champion of criminal records reform for many years. And he now sees an opportunity to act. The government is thus proposing to prevent children who receive a conditional caution having to disclose it for three months, to consider shortening rehabilitation periods (the period within which recent offending is disclosed to any employer who asks for a basic DBS check), and to review rules on lifelong disclosure.

Currently any childhood prison sentence, however short, must be disclosed for ever, as must any convictions for “specified offences”. Specified offences include affray, arson (which can include setting light to a waste paper basket) and assault with intention to resist arrest – not minor offences but arguably not offences which an employer needs to know about 50 years after they were committed.

Make a Difference and Join FairChecks

It’s a pity the government doesn’t support wiping the slate clean. In the USA most States allow for juvenile criminal records to be expunged a certain number of years after the offence was committed. Police and courts have access to the juvenile record, but no employer does. But the proposals in the government’s white paper are a very good start. The FairChecks movement (run by Transform Justice and Unlock) has campaigned for reform. Do join us if you think the current criminal records system is a barrier to rehabilitation.