Unlock addressed unfair criminal record disclosure policy to further its work on reforming criminal records policy for children and young adults.  

Initial Project Outline: This is a continuation and development of Unlock’s previous 3-year project, ‘Unlocking Experience’, funded by the Trust. The project helped establish Unlock as a key player in the conversation around criminal records reform. It enabled Unlock to place individual, personal experiences of inequity at the heart of advocating for change in the disclosure system. By investigating the three specific areas in depth (young adults, women and BAME people), it has developed an evidence base which will inform and give weight to future work aimed at reforming the criminal records regime. It now proposes to further its work on reforming criminal records policy with a particular focus on children and young adults. The primary objective is to achieve legislative change to the criminal records disclosure regime so that people no longer need to reveal old and minor criminal records when applying for employment, volunteering and education. It aims to be responsive to emerging issues and engage with evidenced-based policy and advocacy. In early 2019 the Supreme Court made a number of favourable rulings on youth criminal records. Unlock will press the Government to respond by amending the specific aspects of the disclosure regime that were found unlawful.  

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