Nacro launch “Change the record” campaign
I have written on here many times about what I see as the unfairness in the current system of Criminal Records Bureau checks, which I and lots of others feel unfairly discriminate on former offenders and sometimes even on those who have never committed an offence at all but who have had allegations made against them.
A new campaign has been launched by Nacro, the crime reduction charity, called Change the Record: Giving reformed offenders the chance to work.
It focuses on two areas – Reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, 1974 and the practice of criminal records checks.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) was a good piece of legislation which has helped thousands of people back to work by giving a date by which sentences have been spent, and therefore don’t have to be declared to employers. The trouble is that sentence inflation means that people are getting longer sentences nowadays so offences stay on record for longer. And as many employers are reluctant to take on people who have a record, people are finding it harder to find work when their sentences end. Criminal Records Bureau checks allow employers to do find out the criminal records of applicants whether the offences are spent or not.
While it’s clearly important to carry out checks for people working with children and vulnerable adults, there’s a growing concern that these checks are being carried out indiscriminately with the result that anyone with a record will find it difficult to find work once their record is disclosed. This is particularly worrying given that many CRB disclosures contain information not only on convictions, but also on unproven or untried allegations, acquittals, or even rumours. The disclosures are virtually beyond challenge in many cases.
Anyone with an interest in this area may wish to become a supporter of the campaign. For more information about the campaign, feel free to visit www.changetherecord.org
Rick
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