A bill to update offender rehabilitation laws from the 1970’s was given an unopposed second reading in the House of Lords last Friday.
UNLOCK, a charity set up by reformed offenders, is campaigning for the reform, arguing that a change would benefit the tax-payer by reducing re-offending, prison overcrowding and benefits claims.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is seen to be a major barrier to reducing re-offending as the ‘rehabilitation periods’ force people to declare past convictions long after their punishment is over. A single day in jail attracts a seven year period and a court fine means five years of disclosure. People sentenced to more than thirty months must always declare their conviction.
Disclosure causes problems when seeking employment and securing insurance. Last month the case of arson victim Michelle Barber hit the headlines after it emerged insurers were demanding £240,000 from her due to her non-disclosure of a £120 fine paid four years before she took out her home insurance.
UNLOCK’s Chief Executive Bobby Cummines, who spent 13 years in prison for armed robbery, said: ‘The current state of affairs is ridiculous. I was actually a member of the advisory group on the review of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act in 2002, yet no matter what we do, in the eyes of the law, people like me can never be rehabilitated.
‘There’s so much discrimination in the job market it essentially forces ex-offenders onto benefits.
‘The Government has known about this issue for 10 years but has failed to act.
‘Lord Dholakia’s Bill will bring hope to reformed offenders across the country. I just hope the Government will finally follow through on its almost decade-old commitment to reform the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.’
President of UNLOCK, Lord Ramsbotham, a former Chief Inspector of Prisons, said that for reformed offenders, ‘The Act constitutes nothing less than an additional punishment.’
Julie Wright, Deputy Chief Executive of UNLOCK, said: ‘Society is ill-served through the exclusion of many people who pose no threat, who have reformed, and who wish to contribute as tax-paying, law-abiding members of society.
‘Consistent failure to effect reform leaves many people in positions where they continue to serve a sentence through exclusion and discrimination long after paying the penalty for their original crime.”
Government figures show there are over 8 million people in the UK with convictions. The Government accepted the need to reform the law and reduce the rehabilitation periods in 2003 but has since failed to act.
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December 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pmtonyee says:
As stated in the post,this is a matter that is long overdue.I believe in more so overdue in respect of police cautions,which are often issued and accepted,with no proper explanations by the police,as to the implications to the offender.
Many people have never offended before,and are not likely to offend again,unless they are permanently stigmatised and excluded from society.Police cautions I believe should be permanently remover from CRB ,after a certain period on non offending.A fair example of this would be 2 or 3 years