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Nacro calls for the introduction of a new licensing authority to stamp out discrimination under criminal record checks
A Nacro report released this week is calling for the government to urgently reform the way people with criminal records are treated in the labour market, by introducing an independent licensing authority which would hold ultimate responsibility for clearing people for employment.
The report - Getting Disclosures Right: A review of the use and misuse of criminal record disclosures - highlights how, under the current Disclosure system, people who are no risk to children or vulnerable adults are being refused employment, suspended and dismissed on the basis of wholly irrelevant cautions or convictions. It uncovers widespread discrimination against people who have a criminal record - even where the nature of their offence means that they would pose no risk - across the public, voluntary and private sector.
Paul Cavadino, Chief Executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity, said:
"It is vital to have an effective system to protect children and vulnerable adults from those who are a risk to them. However, far too many people with past cautions or convictions for minor non-sexual offences are being unfairly refused jobs.
"A job applicant who was convicted of shoplifting as a teenager but has since matured could prove an excellent care worker. It is absurd to bar them from such work, treating them on a par with a sex offender.
"It is obviously right to reject job applicants whose records show that they pose a genuine risk. It is just as obviously wrong to reject applicants whose past offences would not make them a threat in the job they are applying for. Yet too many employers are making discriminatory, unreasonable and in some cases illegal decisions based on completely irrelevant convictions. Last year nearly 15,000 of the 20,000 calls to Nacro's helpline were enquiries about criminal record disclosures."
Key recommendations of the report include:
• Introduction of an independent licensing authority which will hold ultimate responsibility for clearing people with criminal records for employment - We need a system whereby ex-offenders and others affected by Disclosures can seek clearance from a licensing body to work with children and vulnerable adults. While decisions to appoint in individual cases would remain with employers, such a scheme would give employers the confidence to take on people with non-relevant past criminal records who had been approved by an independent, accountable authority.
• Strengthen the powers of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to take action against those employers who breach the Disclosure Code of Practice by running checks on posts that are not eligible for checking - Nacro's helpline team regularly come across people who have been refused employment or suspended and dismissed as a result of illegal checks. (4)
In particular Nacro is calling for:
- the CRB to have adequate resources to enforce the new regulations on Disclosures coming out on 1 April 2005. (5)
- ensure the Code is enforced by devoting resources to inspecting all registered bodies on a regular basis to ensure compliance. Without this the discrimination and social exclusion that has been a feature of Disclosures throughout their existence so far will continue.
• A call to reform the law on unfair dismissal - under current law if you are employed for less than a year and are dismissed from your job you cannot usually claim unfair dismissal. Nacro wants to see an amendment to the one-year rule to enable people with spent convictions to claim unfair dismissal when dismissed unfairly from posts. This would bring unfair discrimination against ex-offenders in line with the law on other forms of unfair discrimination - such as sex and race - and increase the chances of getting this excluded group back to work. This would benefit all ex-offenders unfairly dismissed in these circumstances, including those who had a disclosure run illegally on posts not exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
"ENDS"
Notes to editors
1. Disclosure checks were introduced in 2002 to enable employers and others working with vulnerable people and in certain other sensitive areas to find out whether job applicants, employees and volunteers have criminal records or whether the police have other relevant information on them.
2. Over 3 in 10 males and 1 in 10 females in the UK have a criminal record.
3. A model licensing system already exists in the private security industry. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) provides licences enabling ex-offenders with non-relevant convictions, and others, to work in the industry. The licensing system works, as private security companies are willing to take on those ex-offenders given a licence. It also has the advantage of being a transparent system: the Authority publishes clear guidance on whom it will and will not grant licences to. There is also an appeals procedure through the magistrates’ courts for those people wishing to challenge the Authority’s decision.
4. Standard and Enhanced Disclosure checks should only be carried out on positions exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Broadly, these positions include:
.those whose duties involve work with children and vulnerable adults
.certain professions such as health, accountancy, and the law
.senior managers, controllers, directors, etc in financial services
.appointments where national security might be at risk
5. For the results of the consultation on the draft regulations, see www.disclosure.gov.uk/PDF/Final_report_formatted11.pdf
6. To order a copy of Getting Disclosures Right: a review of the use and misuse of criminal record disclosures, priced £7.50 +p&p, please contact Nacro publications on 020 7840 6427.
7. Getting Disclosures Right: A review of the use and misuse of criminal record disclosures will be launched at Nacro's conference, Getting disclosures right: Employing ex-offenders safely and fairly, on Wednesday 25 January 2006 at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
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