Transforming lives through criminal record reform
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This is keeping millions of people out of meaningful employment. What is often a one-off offence, or a short period of offending when younger, can have a huge impact on a person’s life for decades to come. FairChecks is a movement calling for a fresh start for the outdated criminal records disclosure system in England and Wales.
Alexandra Kimmons, Campaigns and Communications Manager for Transform Justice, explains: “Our mission is to build support for change, empower people who are directly impacted to act, and encourage the government to change the law so that people have a real chance to move on.
“What that looks like for us is changing the rules around what shows up on criminal record checks so that things that happened a long time ago or things that were so minor they may not have even resulted in any kind of prison sentence don’t have to show up forever when people are trying to find work and move on and live their lives.”
The impact of leaving prison
Going to prison can have a huge impact on a person’s sense of self, which then (amongst other things) impacts one’s ability to secure meaningful employment when they leave.
Greg Lees, a person with previous conviction, went on to gain employment through Cook’s RAW Talent Programme, said that being in prison really affected his confidence. “When I left prison I’d very much changed as an individual, I didn’t have the same amount of confidence as I had when I went in,” he says. “A lot of that was formed of insecurities around how people would perceive me, my ability to get a job, and how I would be treated.
“Joining Cook completely undid that for me. They took me onboard for who I was and what I was capable of achieving, rather than what I had done. It was absolutely massive.”
For Jazz Singh, his experience of being in prison changed his outlook on life. “I came out a different person,” he says. “The old Jazz ended when I went into prison and I came out a new person with new vision and new outlook. I also had a huge appreciation of the talent that is locked away in prison.”
Initially, Jazz was able to secure employment when he left prison. But when a project he was working on ended, his contract was terminated and he found himself once again looking for work.
“I’m facing the same barriers that every prison leaver faces,” he says. “Though I have a huge amount of privilege in my position because I have a glossy career that I used to have and I can articulate my story. But I’m facing the same challenges because I’m talking to people who have already formed an opinion of what a prison leaver is, and the focus on the person who went into prison and not the person who came out.” He adds: “I think it’s utterly unfair. We’ve rehabilitated, which is why we’re trusted to be in the community.”
A step in the right direction
In 2022, the UK government passed legislation that reduced the length of time people are required to disclose their convictions to allow people to move on with their lives more quickly after completing their sentence.
This means that where previously an adult who received a six-month prison sentence had to reveal the offence on basic checks for the full length of the sentence, plus two years, now they only need to reveal it for the length of the sentence plus one year.
And for the first time ever, many prison sentences of over four years can also eventually become ‘spent’. Disclosure for serious violent, sexual and terrorist offences will not change, but many other offences are now covered by this legislation.
However, there is still more work to be done to help people with previous convictions get into meaningful employment and help them to move on with their lives. Jazz says that he wants to see society “rehabilitate its mind on what a prison leaver is”, adding: “I think society is stuck in the Victorian times.
“There is so much talent inside prison. I call them want-repreneurs. If they were given the right chance, the right toolkit, the right opportunity and platform they would thrive. And if they thrive, society thrives, so it’s a win-win.”
100% Human at Work is helping businesses to navigate the future of work and how to make it more inclusive and diverse. It is working with organisations to help them take tangible steps to shape a future of work that serves humanity – one where there is equal opportunity for all. Visit 100% Human at Work to learn more about its mission and how to get involved.