The New Futures Network is a part of the prison service that specialises in linking prisons and employers, and ensuring prisoners have the right skills to go into employment after prison. A summit held recently called ‘Recruiting Prison Leavers’ highlighted the benefits of prison leavers as employees and showcased success stories such as Timpson’s.
It is worth sharing with your client that poll data has been recently released that indicates over 90% of businesses that employ prison leavers find them to be reliable, good at their job, punctual and trustworthy. There are also significant reputational advantages to be had – over 80% of the general public see this as a positive contribution to society, and it can cut re-offending rates by up to nine percent.
It is unlikely that your client will be able to find out what the prison leaver was sentenced for, as the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 sets down rules that convictions can become ‘spent’ after a certain amount of time, depending on the length and nature of the conviction. This Act aims to give those with convictions or cautions the chance – in certain circumstances – to start afresh. It also prohibits employer from rejecting an applicant because of a spent conviction. So, whilst they can as, this information does not have to be disclosed, and they’re limited in what they can do with the information.
If information is disclosed, NACRO (a crime prevention charity) recommends considering the following:
- whether it’s relevant to the post in question
- it’s seriousness
- how long it’s been since the offence was committed
- whether there is a pattern of offending
- whether someone’s circumstances have changed since the offence
- the circumstances of the offence and the explanation of the individual.
Certain job categories are excluded from the above Act, and these are typically jobs that involve a high level of responsibility or influence, or medical care. These include roles such as social services employees, taxi drivers and vets.
In relation to the DBS check your client is thinking about, they can ask the applicant to apply for a basic check, which will contain details of convictions and conditional cautions that are ‘unspent’. Anyone can apply for these checks, but it is voluntary. Only certain industries can require more advance checks (such as finance and healthcare), and it is not possible for employers not in these industries to access these checks.
Please share this article with your clients
Our team of expert consultants have a wealth of experience and can also provide a written consultancy service to support your practice, like having your very own tax and VAT department.
Why not see what My VIP Tax Team can do for your practice, call 0800 231 5199 or vip@cronertaxwise.com to find out more
