2023-03-31-accounts

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 03791535 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1079046

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 FOR UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LIMITED

UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LIMITED

CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

Page
Reference and Administrative Details	3 to 4
Report of the Trustees	5 to 29
Independent Examiner's Report	30
Statement of Financial Activities	31
Balance Sheet	32 to 34
Notes to the Financial Statements	35 to 45
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities	46 to 47

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LIMITED REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006) present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS

Unlock National Association of Ex-offenders Limited

Working name		Unlock – for people with criminal records
Registered Company number		03791535 (England and Wales)
Registered Charity number		1079046
Registered office & operational address		Maidstone Community Support Centre
		39-48 Marsham Street
		Maidstone
		Kent ME14 1HH
Trustees	Caroline Bald (joined 19 October 2022)
	Salima Budhani (left 27 July 2022)
	Mark Day (Chair)
	Faye Goldman (Vice-chair)
	Leigh Hardy
	Steven Lorber
	Hamish MacLellan
	Mandeep Mahil
	Michael Pattinson, Vice-chair and Treasurer (left 18 January 2023)
	Michael Reinsoo (joined 23 March 2022)
	Mark Rowe, Chair
	Tom Wheatley (joined 19 October 2022)
	Emma Wilson
Senior ManagementAngela Cairns, CEO,
	Jo Easton, Director of Policy and Advocacy
	Debbie Sadler, Head of Advice
President	General The Lord David	Ramsbotham GCB CBE (deceased 13 December 2022)
Vice-President	Judge John Samuels QC
Patrons	Kate Adie OBE DL
	Dr Silvia Casale
	Dr Deborah Cheney
	Prof Andrew Coyle CMG
	Dexter Dias QC
	The Rt Hon the Lord Garnier QC
	Prof Nick Hardwick
	Matt Hyde FRSA
	Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
	Flo Krause LLB
	Prof Shadd Maruna
	Jill Stevens

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Bankers NatWest (Larkfield), 718 London Road, Larkfield, Aylesford, Kent ME20 6AN Independent Examiner Calcutt Matthews, 19 North Street, Ashford, Kent TN24 8LF

Independent Examiner

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Following an extensive review of Unlock’s memorandum and articles of association, the board of trustees unanimously passed a new set of articles of association by special resolution in June 2020. The new articles of association provide for greater clarity and practical ease of administration, including setting trustee tenure periods and the appointment of a vice chair. There were no changes to the objects, rules on paying a trustee or what happens if the charity is wound up. The articles of association were submitted to and accepted by the Charity Commission, with the Commission’s records being updated accordingly in July 2020. Companies House was also notified.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

The board carries out an annual review to decide whether there is a need to recruit new trustees. If during the year a trustee leaves, the board will decide whether to recruit at that time. New trustees are openly recruited through advertisement across appropriate forums. Two new trustees were appointed this year: Caroline Bald and Tom Wheatley.

Trustee induction and training

New trustees have an induction session at Unlock’s office or virtually to meet other trustees, staff, and volunteers to gain a better understanding of Unlock’s work, priorities, and how it operates. They are given the charity’s key documents and assigned guidance to read issued by the Charity Commission and Companies House.

Organisational structure

Unlock is a charitable company governed by a board of trustees with day-to-day operations delegated to the Chief Executive.

Related parties

No related parties exist other than the funders identified below.

Risk management

The trustee board has carried out a review of the major risks facing the charity. A risk register is in place which prioritises these risks and identifies mitigating factors, systems, and controls in relation to each. Trustees follow a comprehensive monitoring and review process to review identified risks regularly and to capture new risks that may arise and ensure that systems are in place to manage and mitigate these risks.

Governance

Trustees attend scheduled board meetings four times a year; in 2022-23 the trustee attendance rate was 83%. One additional board meeting was held to discuss the annual plan and budget for 2023/24. Individual trustees lead on identified portfolios including safeguarding, risk management, whistleblowing, finance, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), digital development, human resources, Charity Governance Code, and fundraising. They are encouraged to attend training events and seminars to develop their roles and increase their contribution to the charity's governance. Trustees also undertake adhoc tasks as and when required and task-specific working groups are formed as needed and meet separately.

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In working towards fulfilling Unlock’s vision and achieving high standards of governance and leadership, the trustee board applies the Charity Governance Code. Overseen by the Charity Commission, the Code sets out principles and recommended practice to help us achieve the highest standards of governance and leadership. The board undertakes self-assessment against the Code annually.

Unlock operates within an equal opportunities framework that is inclusive of people with criminal convictions and seeks to attract trustees with a wide range of backgrounds and experience. Approximately a third of our trustees and staff have a criminal record.

A working group which involves staff and trustees oversees and drives forward Unlock’s equality, diversity and inclusion agenda in line with our strategic priorities.

Interests

The trustee board maintains a register of members’ interests as a measure of good practice and to manage any conflicts that arise. The register is updated and reviewed annually.

Safeguarding

Unlock has a robust safeguarding policy and other related policies including whistleblowing with named lead trustees for both. In this reporting period, no safeguarding incidents have been identified as relevant for reporting to the Charity Commission via a serious incident report and no whistleblowing concerns were raised.

Management

Management and development of the charity are delegated to the Chief Executive who reports directly to the chair of trustees. A framework of financial delegation is set out in a policy and procedures manual. Systems for line management, appraisal, staff development and supervision are in place, together with grievance and complaints procedures.

Remuneration policy

The trustee board sets staff’s salaries. In 2022/3 a remuneration committee was set up to annually review staff salaries and related terms and conditions. A benchmarking and cost of living exercise was carried out to inform proposed changes. Changes were then approved by the board.

Public Benefit

Unlock assists people with criminal records to live positive, crime-free lives. In planning the charity’s activities this year, the trustees paid due regard to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. Our activities and beneficiaries are described below and in the ‘About Us’ section of our website: www.unlock.org.uk

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OBJECTIVES

As stated in our governing document, Unlock’s charitable objects are: “To advance education and promote the rehabilitation and reintegration of people who have received a criminal record (including those who have suffered a legal restriction on their liberty at any penal establishment as a punishment imposed by a court of law, received a noncustodial sentence, fine or any other court or other recorded disposal, such as a police caution), in particular but not exclusively by the provision of information, advice, advocacy and training, and the undertaking of research and policy work, with the object of improving the conditions of life of the aforementioned persons.”

Purpose

Unlock is a national independent advocacy charity that supports, speaks up and campaigns for people facing stigma, prejudice and discrimination because of their criminal record. We believe that everyone should be able to move on from their past and contribute fully to society. We provide information, give advice and take on cases to help people overcome the obstacles they are facing because of their criminal record. Many people feel like they are serving a second sentence of stigma and discrimination. To challenge this injustice we collect evidence, speak out and campaign for change so that policies, practices and attitudes allow people the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Vision

Our vision is of a fair and inclusive society where people with criminal records are free from stigma, prejudice and discrimination.

Mission

Our mission is to advocate for people with criminal records so they can move on positively in their lives. Specifically we:

• Support people with criminal records to navigate their way through challenges.

• Campaign for changes to legislation, policies and practices of government, employers and others.

• Research, present evidence and raise awareness of the systemic issues faced by people with criminal records.

The issues faced by people with criminal records

Prevailing attitudes and language such as “offenders”, “ex-offenders” and “prisoners”, fail to acknowledge the substantial number (over 12 million people) and wide diversity of people in this country, from all walks of life, who have a criminal record. Most people are convicted on only one occasion, 90% do not receive a prison sentence and of those who do go to prison, 47% have sentences of less than 6 months and 71% have committed a non-violent offence.

Disclosure

The current criminal record system requires disclosure of cautions and convictions beyond the completion of any sentences – sometimes for the rest of someone’s life. There is a popular emphasis on an individual’s responsibility to rehabilitate themselves following a conviction but regardless of how much effort a person makes, there are many significant barriers to getting jobs and promotions, accessing education, training, housing, financial services, travel abroad, volunteering and in many other areas of everyday life. The situation is further complicated by issues of intersectionality and the complex relationship between disadvantage, discrimination and criminal records that entrenches social and economic inequality.

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The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) says that a spent criminal record is not legitimate grounds for discrimination. However, it does not provide any way to enforce this and people with criminal records are left with no obvious way to uphold their rights. There is a patchwork of other law which tangentially may cover spent criminal records, as part of other employment rights and wrongful dismissal laws. However, this is difficult for people to understand, and many do not even know when the law might have been broken.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was established in 2012 to help employers make safer recruitment decisions and to prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups including children. Unfortunately, conversations about safeguarding often put too much reliance on criminal record checks as a way of identifying risk. Checks can be a useful tool, but understanding what information they provide and how it relates to risk is key to making sure people are not excluded unnecessarily. It is also important to remember that only where there is a clear need should employers be accessing additional criminal record information about spent convictions through standard or enhanced DBS checks. Evidence from our helpline shows that employers asking for or carrying our ineligible checks continues to be a real problem.

Even where formal checks are not undertaken, it is now widespread practice for employers to make an internet search during the recruitment process. This leads to the so-called “Googleeffect” – where information about old convictions which should be treated as spent or filtered is still available online – meaning employers may end up seeing information that they are not entitled to consider.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) places a responsibility on employers to collect only relevant personal information (including criminal records) and to explain why it is needed. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) requires organisations collecting criminal record data to have clear policies governing this data collection, but many organisations are not even aware of this requirement or that criminal record data is treated as a distinct group of personal data.

Disclosure in employment

It is widely held that a principal factor identified in stopping reoffending is having a job. Fair chance recruitment opening job opportunities for people with criminal records therefore benefits everyone in society, not just the people getting a job. Recent drives by government to encourage employment of people leaving prison can be helpful but it is important to remember that most people with a criminal record have not been to prison. Research published by Working Chance in 2022 showed that 30% of employers would automatically exclude a candidate who declared an unspent conviction. The positive news is that the same research showed employer attitudes towards people with criminal records are improving – with 45% now saying they would hypothetically recruit someone with a conviction, an increase from 25% in 2010[1] .

We know that employers rejecting people is not the only problem, as there is a chilling effect experienced by people with a criminal record who often avoid applying for jobs due to a fear of rejection or shame about their past, if they are asked to disclose. Experience of discrimination can become internalised, leading to a lack of self-confidence and resulting in self-censorship in what training or work a person will apply for. Business in the Community (BITC) found that over half (52%) of people with a criminal record would not apply for a job

1 Progress__Prejudice_Shifts_in_UK_employer_attitudes_to_hiring_people_with_convictions.pdf (ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com)

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where they needed to disclose their criminal records.[2]

Employment is not the only area where people with a criminal record face stigma and discrimination. Despite some recent positive improvements to the criminal records system, a criminal record can still have a pervasive impact in multiple ways:

• Access to education – In 2018 UCAS removed the ‘criminal convictions’ box for applicants to non-regulated courses at university. But most universities continue to collect this information and we regularly hear from people who find that old and minor criminal records cause problems when applying to university, particularly in accessing courses like social work and healthcare.

• Housing – Since 2011 social housing providers have had the right to apply blanket bans to applicants with unspent criminal convictions. Many providers ask on application and apply some form of exclusion for those who declare a conviction.

• Insurance – Insurance cover is often refused or subject to unjustified increased premiums. Insurance companies regularly consider convictions that have no relevance to the insurance sought. Insurers fail to follow industry good practice and are often misleading in the questions they ask or assumptions they make, suggesting that people with spent convictions need to disclose these.

• Travel – Visa requirements and confusing travel restrictions can deter or prevent travel.

• Information on the internet – Media reports online can lead to information about criminal offences remaining publicly accessible for many years, undermining the purpose of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (ROA).

• Becoming a trustee or senior manager of a charity - The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 prevents charities recruiting trustees and senior managers with certain criminal records. Amendments in 2018 extended the framework to cover senior staff and extended the trustee disqualification framework to cover people on the sex offenders register (even when the conviction is spent).

We also know that a criminal record can further entrench inequalities and discrimination experienced by certain groups in the criminal justice system including children and young people, women and minoritised groups.

Disproportionate Impact

A criminal record acquired as a child can be a life sentence. Even though the youth justice system recognises that children must be treated differently than adults due to their vulnerability and lack of maturity, the criminal record system only makes a few allowances (such as halving rehabilitation periods) to any cautions or convictions received before the age of 18 years. As well as the inherent unfairness of allowing incidents that occurred when a child to have long-term impacts on their life, because of their age, discrimination faced in respect of employment (for example) can continue 30 years after someone has completed their sentence.

Concern around the failure of the criminal justice system to fairly deal with other groups such as young adults, women or those with mental health problems all impact on someone’s criminal record and therefore various aspects of their life.

2 Finding work after prison – a survey of prisoners' attitudes towards employment and the criminal record tick box, Business in the Community (BITC), p.4

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An issue of particular concern is in respect of racially minoritised groups. Ethnicity can impact on the type of criminal record someone receives as people from racially minoritised communities are more likely to be stopped and searched, face more serious charges and more punitive sentences, if convicted[3] .

• Data since 2014 shows white people have had a consistently lower average custodial sentence length for indictable offences than all other ethnic groups[4] .

• Black teenage boys are more likely to be charged with murder than manslaughter and more likely to receive a higher or maximum sentence than white teenage boys[5] .

• One in four black teenage boys guilty of manslaughter were given maximum jail terms, while white children found guilty of the same crime were sentenced to no more than ten years, with the majority getting less than four[6] .

Our research shows that people feel the criminal records system disproportionately impacts certain racialised groups as well as exacerbating problems faced by people already treated more harshly at all stages in the criminal justice system. Ways to minimise the use of criminal records may benefit racialised groups and would result in a much fairer system for everyone.

Discriminatory and unfair attitudes mean that people with criminal records usually want to keep their past private. They are unlikely to challenge unfair discrimination or even illegal action by employers and others. Even where individuals are willing, there is virtually no legal recourse or penalties – so the situation is perpetuated. People with criminal records remain anchored in their past, unable to fulfil their potential, and the impact of having a criminal record remains largely unrecognised by government, others with power or the general public. Consequently, the depth and extent of challenges around criminal records are largely hidden and under-reported.

The result of this situation is that people face not only practical and financial problems but are emotionally anchored to past, unhappy experiences. It also means that a vast amount of human potential and talent is being wasted.

Our approach

Independent

We believe it is important that we hold government, agencies and others to account. We also believe it is important that people with criminal records trust us. That’s why we’re independent: Unlock neither seeks nor accepts government funding and this is crucial to our model of working. While we aim to work constructively with government and other partners wherever possible, we are also at liberty to take a critical stance on policies which unfairly restrict opportunities for people with criminal records.

We speak truth to power. As a result, the people for whom we exist, and our supporters and funders can be sure that our sole motivation is to improve the life chances of people with criminal records. Our power comes from our knowledge of what’s happening to people with criminal records, publishing reports, persuading the unwilling, encouraging good practices and exposing those practices which are unacceptable. We’re politically independent - but we are not neutral about our agenda of change to criminal records.

3 The data set out below is discussed in an Unlock Block: https://unlock.org.uk/blog-cjs-racial-discrimination-black-livesmatter/

4 Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2018, Ministry of Justice (2019). See also The Lammy Review (2017)

5 ‘Exclusive’ article by May Bulman, The Independent, 3 October 2018

6 ibid

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Involve and include people with criminal records

We believe that personal experience is intrinsically valuable, so we recruit people with criminal records throughout the organisation (and particularly as staff and volunteers to deliver our frontline support). Peer experience offers a bridge of understanding, awareness and empathy to people who sometimes find it hard to talk about the issues they face. We also have a trustee board where a third of the members have a criminal record. We proactively involve and support people to contribute to our advocacy, campaigns and policy work, because people with criminal records know best about the problems that they face. We also acknowledge the value that people with criminal records bring to Unlock due to their knowledge, skills and experience, apart from their specific life experience of the justice system.

Ear to the ground, voice at the top

Every day we listen and engage with around 40 people who face difficulties because of their criminal record. We have a proven track record of identifying issues, finding solutions and putting them into practice. We influence policy and create systemic change, continually punching above our weight to achieve large-scale outcomes with employers, service providers, advice agencies and government. Too often, policies and systems divide and disempower people; and politicians and organisations hoard rather than share power. We create platforms and build confidence and capacity for individuals to take more power and to influence.

Think big. Act big. Stay small.

We are a small charity with big ambitions. We constantly adapt our work so that we better meet the needs of the people for whom we exist. To do this, we need to make tough choices; we can’t do everything. Longer term, it is important that we can ensure that the organisation’s core work continues, which means working efficiently and effectively.

Work in partnership

We collaborate and build strategic partnerships with like-minded organisations to maximise our impact. If we are to achieve real change, we also need to work with people and organisations that are different to Unlock, and to develop partnerships that influence the way in which they think and behave.

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UNLOCK’S ACHIEVEMENTS OVER TWO DECADES

We are proud to have played a key part, over more than 21 years, in bringing about positive changes which have benefited people with criminal records:

• Our helpline and other information resources have helped tens of thousands of individuals and supported businesses, universities and other organisations to make their recruitment, employment or other decision-making systems fairer for people with criminal records.

• Following lobbying and campaigning from Unlock, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 introduced reduced rehabilitation periods. For the first time since the introduction of the ROA in 1974, most convictions will be able to become spent at some point, even for longer prison sentences of over four years. Some people are excluded from these changes and convictions will not become spent for certain offence-types. However, despite changes to the law, the required changes to the criminal records disclosure system at the DBS were not completed until well over a year until after the act was made law, with the changes being implemented on 28 October 2023.

• A Supreme Court ruling in 2019, following Unlock’s first legal intervention, led to the government introducing changes to the filtering rules in late 2020 which benefit around 45,000 people a year. But many convictions and cautions still show up on higher-level DBS checks for many years, sometimes forever.

• The Ban the Box campaign, which Unlock co-founded in 2013, now has over 150 employers that commit to not asking about criminal records at application stage. But Unlock research (2018) showed that three quarters of national employers continue to ask at this point[7] .

• The introduction of filtering rules in 2013 meant people with some single convictions and cautions no longer had them show up on standard or enhanced checks. Around 120,000 standard or enhanced checks a year no longer disclose criminal records because of filtering. But the rules were unnecessarily rigid and meant that many people still had old and minor criminal records disclosed.

• Changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, passed in 2012 and introduced in 2014, reduced the disclosure period for most jobs for hundreds of thousands of people, and meant those sentences between 30 months and four years could become spent. But it kept a sizeable proportion of people excluded because of the length or type of their sentence and it failed to tackle the underlying issues with the legislation in today’s society.

Despite making progress there remains much to do to achieve our mission of a fair and inclusive society where people with criminal records are free from stigma, prejudice and discrimination.

7 Summary-A-question-of-fairness.pdf (unlock.org.uk)

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ACTIVITIES AND IMPACT 2022-23

Organisational development

Strategy and planning

In April 2021 we launched our strategic plan, Tackling Injustice, Changing Lives . An annual organisational workplan allows us to track progress towards our key priorities, ensuring implementation is in line with our strategy. The board receives a quarterly update report against the activities, opportunities, challenges and outcomes in both the workplan and Unlock’s strategic priorities.

Our three overarching priorities

1. People should have knowledge, skills, confidence and support to overcome the disadvantages related to their criminal record . We will reach more people by helping them to self-serve digitally, and we will strengthen our capacity to support people more. Together, this will enable people with criminal records to be aware of their rights, know where to turn for advice, and be able to challenge the stigma and discrimination they are facing.

2. People with criminal records should be free from stigma, prejudice and discrimination as a result of government, employers and others having policies, practices and attitudes that support their fair treatment . We will be a powerful voice in pushing for change to legislation, policies, and practices, using strategic litigation to bring about change, and increasing the research and evidence base to support us to achieve change at a policy and systemic level.

3. We will maintain good governance and develop Unlock’s sustainability and resilience . We will translate our priorities into fully funded and resourced delivery, develop unrestricted funding streams including support from donors and philanthropists, and by growing earned income, continue to measure ourselves against the Charity Governance Code and ensure that we maintain a focus on increasing diversity and inclusion, with the aim of being representative of all sections of society

Board, employees and volunteers

Following a review of Unlock’s structure, four new people joined the Unlock team during 2022/23; one new team member joined the advice team and three people joined the policy team, replacing one policy officer who had left. Volunteers continued to play a vital role in the delivery of the charity’s activities.

Memberships and working groups

We continue to work positively to build relationships and partnerships across government, private sector, statutory agencies, and the voluntary sector (through body membership, board membership, participatory working groups, and formal agreements for collaborative working). Over the past year, significant relationships included membership of the Helplines Partnership, Clinks, Criminal Justice Alliance, Free Representation Unit; NCVO. Unlock is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Fundraising Regulator.

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Across our policy and campaign activities, we work with other organisations including Alliance for Youth Justice, Clinks, National Association for Youth Justice, the Criminal Justice Alliance; Information Commissioner's Office, Working Chance, Prison Reform Trust, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, Disclosure and Barring Service, Transform Justice, Business in the Community (BITC), New Futures Network and Employers' Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR).

Advice, information and support

Unlock provides information, advice and support for people with criminal records, their families and friends and the professionals who work with them. These are delivered directly through our helpline, volunteering scheme and training for professionals working to support people with criminal records within their own organisations, and indirectly through our online resources.

The Helpline

Unlock’s helpline provides confidential, accurate, reliable, and non-judgmental information, advice, and support for people with criminal records. People can talk to an advisor on the phone and get support and advice via WhatsApp, email, and online resources. The helpline is delivered by trained staff and volunteers with criminal records. Their personal experience allows them to offer an empathetic response to people seeking our help.

“I contacted you for disclosure advice before applying for my personal licence. The licence was granted this morning. Thanks for the advice, it’s a fantastic service you provide. You really helped to lift a weight off my mind.”

	2021-22	2022-23
Direct support
Helpline contacts	9,019	8,730
Case work (completed)	12	5
Self-help support
Visits to information and advice webpages	[993,281]1	1,889,899
Forum members	4,268	4,411
Disclosure calculator uses	43,198	37,9122
Volunteering
Volunteers supported	4	3
Time given by volunteers	1,734 hrs	1,049 hrs
Training for practitioners
Training events delivered	23	21
Number of people trained	289	224

1 This figure represents user sessions at the Information Hub, which no longer exists but is provided for comparison.

2 This represents use from the end of May 2022, when the new disclosure calculator launched

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Whilst the helpline received fewer contacts in 2022-23 compared with the previous year, many of the contacts were more complex with callers facing multiple issues or barriers preventing them from moving on with their lives. This is likely to be partly in response to our objective of encouraging and making it easier for people to digitally self-serve by using our website and useful tools. As more people are able to find the answer to straightforward questions via our website, direct contacts to our helpline are more likely to be about more complex issues.

It is also worth noting that we had fewer volunteers in 2022-23 but even so, contacts compared to volunteer hours has increased from 5 contacts per hour to 8 contacts per hour.

Most contacts were seeking information and/or advice on disclosing a criminal record or trying to establish what would appear on criminal record checks. In particular, there were queries relating to standard and enhanced DBS certificates, where the criteria for filtering cautions/convictions can be complex and where individuals will often have to disclose details of their criminal record before they have had sight of their DBS certificate.

Helpline Impact

Helpline users are empowered with facts that help them understand and improve their individual circumstances – getting jobs, education opportunities and training, accessing housing, improving their financial situation, travelling abroad and much more. They then feel better able to cope with the challenges of living with a criminal record, less isolated because they have access to a community of other people who share their desire to move on in life and are better able to engage with wider society. Strengthened emotional foundations lead to better family relationships, improved life outcomes, and reduced motivation to reoffend which, in turn, has a positive effect on wider society.

“I have avoided applying for so many jobs because of the shame of my conviction. I now know that my conviction has been filtered and I can put it behind me and move forward. Thank you for putting my mind at rest.”

Feedback helps us monitor the quality of the support we provide, track outcomes, and identify recurring and arising issues. It helps build an evidence base and advocate for changes to policy, practice, and legislation. People calling the helpline tell us they have positive outcomes relating to jobs and education, insurance, and housing, gaining confidence, improved sense of wellbeing and better understanding their rights and responsibilities.

“Really grateful to Unlock. If it wasn’t for them, I would have had no chance with any university application.”

“Just come off the phone to Simon on the helpline. The conversation was overwhelming. He made me laugh and cry and made me see that I’m not a bad person. A massive burden has been lifted – what a smashing guy.”

“I just spoke to a helpline advisor. They were calm and extremely helpful. Gave me the time I needed to explore my enquiry fully and made sure I understood the information they provided. Your customer service approach to people is first class.”

"Your department [sic] consistently outperforms any Government organisation I have come across in providing excellent (and intelligent) public service."

‘You have really helped my family over the past 8 or 9 years. I have three children who are happy, healthy, and mentally unscarred, and that's down to Unlock.’

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The following examples show some of the ways one-to-one support can be positive for Unlock callers:

Salah had been convicted of stalking and harassment following the breakdown of a previous relationship. He had been invited to attend an interview for an IT apprenticeship but was concerned that due to the nature of his offence, the women he would be working with, would object to his employment.

We explained that the only people who would know about his conviction would be his line manager and/or HR manager. As part of the recruitment process, a risk assessment may be carried out to ensure all the team were working in a safe and secure environment.

Salah had worked with his probation officer to better understand his offending behaviour and was confident he would never reoffend. We explained that this was something Salah should include in any disclosure conversation with his employer. A week later Salah told us that he’d been offered the IT apprenticeship.

Sam initially contacted us when he wanted help applying to university to study for a paramedic course.

His application was successful and as part of the admissions process, the university applied for an enhanced DBS check. This resulted in the DBS writing to Sam informing him that they were considering adding him to the adults and children’s barred lists due to his conviction from 2015. Sam was extremely concerned that if he were barred, he would never be able to become a paramedic or work in any type of regulated activity.

We were able to explain to Sam how the DBS barring process worked and what to include in his representation.

Sam shared his draft representation with us for feedback. His letter was extremely detailed, and Sam was also able to include 5 references both professional and character.

Several weeks later Sam confirmed that the DBS were not going to add him to a barred list and that he could concentrate on his paramedic studies without any distraction.

Volunteering at Unlock

Unlock’s volunteer scheme provides opportunities for people with criminal records to support others, build back confidence and self-esteem and gain valuable workplace skills and experience. Based at our Maidstone office, volunteers train as frontline advisors, working alongside staff to provide a unique, peer-delivered information, advice, and support service. This allows us to respond to many more people than would otherwise be possible. Volunteering is open to those living in the community as well as those on day release from prison. Remote volunteers offer support as content writers and researchers.

Volunteers are encouraged to take an active part in Unlock’s activities and are invited to other training opportunities. Future volunteers will continue to undertake our disclosure training (endorsed by the Institute of Employability Professionals).

In 2022/23 two volunteers achieved Level 2 NVQs in Information, Advice and Guidance. This well recognised qualification lends itself well to on-the-job training and the specialist skills gained are sought after in a growing number of industries.

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The recruitment of new volunteers to helpline advisor roles continued to be a challenge due to all three local Kent prisons (HMP East Sutton Park, Standford Hill and Rochester) focusing on getting residents into paid employment. Interest from people in the community also fell, possibly due to shortages in the labour market making it easier for individuals to find paid work.

In 2023/24 we will be setting up a new advice hub in London, with new volunteers to be recruited to this hub. This should allow us to provide more people from marginalised communities the opportunity to volunteer with us and gain new skills and experience.

A volunteer’s experience

Since childhood I have struggled with my mental health. My family found this hard to deal with and probably didn’t get me the help or support I needed. I don’t blame them; things were very different at that time.

Becoming a father was one of my greatest achievements and I worked hard to support my son both financially and emotionally. However, around 2012 my mental health started to deteriorate and in 2015 I received a conviction which led to a 5-year prison sentence.

On release I struggled to find paid work but determined to keep myself fully occupied I applied to volunteer at Unlock as a helpline advisor. My confidence was at an all-time low, and I didn’t know what to expect from the role.

The team instantly made me feel welcome and after completing my training I was able to start responding to emails and answering the telephones. Many calls are quite easy to deal with, people needing disclosure advice or wanting to know what’s going to appear on their DBS certificate but sometimes, I find myself speaking to somebody who is going through a mental health crisis just like I was. During my training I imagined that I’d find it difficult to deal with these types of calls but strangely I’ve found that by helping others, I’m actually helping myself.

Individual case work

On occasion, our helpline team will go beyond normal helpline support to take up a case on behalf of an individual. Cases are taken on to achieve a positive outcome for the person, or where the intervention supports our current policy work and could potentially increase our body of evidence and/or benefit many people.

The following are examples of successful challenges:

• SB and DBS – Following a potential ineligible check for a finance officer role, Unlock requested that the DBS carry out a test of regulated activity. Once the DBS had confirmed that the role did involve regulated activity, Unlock worked with SB to draft representation as to why he should not be included on the barred list.

• DJ and DBS – Unlock assisted DJ to make an application to the Upper Tribunal to appeal the DBS decision to add him to the children's barred list because of a conviction in 1985.

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• AB and the Security Industry Authority. Unlock supported AB through the appeal process. The Security Industry Authority issued him a licence in June 2022.

• AM and Disclosure and Barring Service. Unlock supported AM with a request to be removed from the adult and children's barred lists after a previous application had been refused. AM was removed from both barred lists in May 2022.

• LB and John Lewis Insurance. Following non-disclosure of a partner's conviction John Lewis had refused to settle a claim and were minded to bring a charge of fraud against LB. No further action was taken by John Lewis after Unlock advised that the question on the insurance application form was misleading and the non-disclosure was an error and not fraudulent.

Support for people in prison

Our helpline regularly receives letters and calls from people in prison on a range of issues and particularly about resettlement. Unlock’s helpline number is on the prison pre-approved list meaning a person in prison can call us for free and without prior permission.

Throughout the year we have worked with a group of men from HMP Oakwood (a category C prison in Staffordshire) to prepare them for work whilst on ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence).

In September 2022 we recorded a podcast on disclosing a criminal record for Prison Radio’s ‘Life after prison’ programme. We have continued to work with them to provide information and advice on a range of other topics.

Supporting people digitally

With limited helpline capacity and a large potential beneficiary group, our websites provide a wide range of information and guidance on tackling issues such as employment, insurance, travel, education, housing, relationships, finance, filtering, disclosure – in fact just about everything in life that is affected by having a criminal record. Online resources allow people to find the information they need, at a time and in a way that suits them.

In 2022-23, there were 1,889,899 visits to our information and advice pages. There were over 61,400 downloads of our PDF resources, with the most popular download being our guide to filtering.

Redeveloping the Unlock disclosure calculator

Unlock’s disclosure calculator is a free, instant, and confidential way for people to find out if or when their record will become spent and no longer disclosed to employers and other organisations.

We knew the original disclosure calculator had a dated look and feel, and some people found it difficult to use. In May 2022 we launched the newly redeveloped calculator, which sits within our main website. The new calculator is much simpler to use, is optimised for mobile as well as desktop use, and is built in a way that allows us to make changes quickly and easily in response to feedback or changes to legislation. We also have access to anonymised analytics, which will support our evidence base for policy change.

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From its launch in May 2022 up to the end of March 2023, 37,912 people used the new calculator.

“ Very simple and effective – well done!”

• “This is awesome and easy”

“I just wanted to say how useful I found the calculator!”

• Feedback from calculator users

theForum

The forum continues to be an active community where people with a criminal record can share their experiences. Throughout 2022/23, 1,247 new posts were added to the forum across a range of subjects.

Trialling zoom surgeries

In September 2022, Unlock started a pilot project of face-to-face, online advice surgeries (Zoom surgeries) with a total of 5 surgeries being held. Despite all appointments being prebooked as soon as they were released, the attendance rate on the day was only 50%.

Feedback from users was positive, particularly the ability to book an appointment in advance. However, surgeries of this type are resource intensive and could only continue as and when more helpline advisors were recruited.

Recruit

Unlock’s Recruit website provides advice, guidance, and templates for employers to use to develop fair recruitment policies and practice.

In the past year, the site was used by 26,000 different users.

Employers also contacted us over the past year for further information and advice, after looking at Recruit. In some cases, employer queries led to tailored, detailed advice and support to revise policies and practices. Several employers reported finding the policy builder especially helpful, and a key sector partner let us know that it was the Recruit site which had enabled them to source insurance for their charity. We have been tidying and updating the Recruit site to increase engagement with the resources available there.

Monitoring website usage and feedback

Our websites are continuously monitored allowing us to track usage and make improvements. Using Google Analytics, we collect data and analyse metrics, and we use various methods to capture and analyse user feedback.

Every page on our website includes a ‘ was it easy to find what you were looking for ?’ question, with the option to tick yes or no and leave written feedback. This helps us to make sure our content is working well, and the site is well-organised. In 2022-23 we asked our website agency (Clear Honest Design) to make improvements to the way feedback is displayed in the back end, making it easier for us to identify and act upon any trends.

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Online support in relation to our policy work

People accessing our online spaces are encouraged to become contributors to all our online channels, sharing individual stories and providing peer support for others in similar circumstances. This creates a powerful sense of community, fostering support and empathy as well as useful information. The experiences of people using Unlock’s online channels inform and influence our policy work. This allows us to identify recurring issues and take action to advocate for systemic change of policy or law to improve circumstances for many people.

Training: supporting organisations and practitioners

Unlock ran 21 training workshops/webinars during the year with a total of 224 attendees. Inhouse training sessions were delivered to organisations such as Black Country Healthcare, Newcastle Youth Justice Service, Social Care Wales, Ingeus UK and the London School of Economics.

We regularly receive contact from practitioners who do not feel confident in giving advice to their clients. Mistakes can prove costly, with people missing out on jobs and other opportunities because of receiving inaccurate advice. Training covers a variety of issues on and around disclosure and participants include individuals, statutory bodies, charities, and businesses.

“We work with people who have a criminal record, both as clients and volunteers and wanted to better understand our responsibilities. The session gave us all the information we required; I’d definitely recommend it.”

“The presenter was very clear and explained things really well. The course was very well organised and the level of engagement was good.”

“Some people I support in my job are ex-offenders and I wanted to be in a position where I can offer the correct level of advice. This course will help me to do that.”

The income generated from training supports our wider work.

Policy and advocacy

Unlock’s “ ear to the ground, voice at the top ” approach means we listen to people with criminal records to learn about the issues they face. Then we identify where we can advocate for change at systemic, structural, and legal levels to resolve them.

Politically and economically, this year has seen a challenging environment to bring about change. The two main political parties continue to lead with narratives around taking more punitive approaches, including being tougher on crime, increased sentences and encouraging more prohibitive/restrictive controls for anti-social behaviour (even where it is not criminal). This makes it a particularly challenging environment to be talking about progressive policies that focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment. In addition, there have been a series of horrific cases, particularly involving police officers, that have renewed conversations about safeguarding, with a tendency for a risk averse approach to be taken. This means the focus of our policy work has had to include arguing against regressive change as well as looking for opportunities for progression.

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The Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act (April 2022) was a major piece of legislation which reduces the length of time some people will have to disclose their criminal record. For many of those with a custodial sentence of more than four years, there is for the first time a chance that their convictions will be spent. This means they will no longer have to disclose their criminal record. However, these changes were not implemented until 28 October 2023.

Further reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 - Unlock has long campaigned for fundamental changes to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA), which is the principal legislation governing the disclosure of criminal records to employers, educational institutions, insurers, and housing providers. The current law means that:

• Rehabilitation periods are too long and result in a form of secondary punishment where a person faces continued discrimination and stigmatisation.

• A criminal record still results in life-long impacts for too many people, even with the positive changes for some convictions to become spent sooner

• Childhood offences are not dealt with appropriately, taking into account the focus of the youth justice system on the welfare of the child

• There is no legal protection for spent convictions: rehabilitated people are powerless to prevent employers, housing providers and others using spent convictions to exclude them.

Unlock continues to advocate for a root and branch review of the ROA, and the development of fresh legislation that is fit for purpose. Given the importance of understanding the experiences of those with criminal records (and others), we believe the review should be an open policy-making process as recommended by the Cabinet Office. This means engaging with a broad range of experts and people with experience. As the 50[th] anniversary of the ROA is approaching, we believe this is the perfect time to review and reform the legislation. We are calling for:

• Every sentence to have the potential be become spent during a person’s lifetime.

• Everyone who has a criminal record should be able to make their case that they have moved on, with the potential to have their record declared spent or filtered by impartial adjudicators.

• Only more serious offences and those that present a clear safeguarding risk can be allowed to remain on standard and enhanced DBS checks for life.

• Amendment of anomalies in rehabilitation periods, especially for children and young adults.

Policy and campaigning activities

• Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. In August 2022 we provided a response to the government’s consultation on whether to remove the so-called “exclusionary rule” whereby anyone with an unspent criminal conviction is unable to access compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). We have subsequently published a short briefing on this topic. A recommendation to alter this rule was included in the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

• Engagement with relevant ministerial teams. With the changes in government personnel over the last year, we have been proactive in writing to new ministers, including the Prime Minister, upon their appointments. We published a Policy Manifesto, which was shared with relevant ministers and about which we received positive feedback.

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• Provided a response to the Joint Committee on Human Rights Bill of Rights inquiry. This outlined our position in relation to government proposals that would have made it more challenging for people with criminal records to seek judicial reviews, a route that has been crucial in challenging unfair rules relating to criminal records.

• Engaged with the Home Office concerning additions to list roles exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and, therefore, eligible for elevated DBS checks. This resulted in an agreement that any new roles added would have to be accompanied by detailed guidance on how criminal record checks should be used, including the importance of nuanced decision-making which takes account of the specifics of each case.

• Engaged with parliamentarians who were commenting on the criminal record system or relevant issues. We monitored Hansard, and contacted any MP or peer we believed would find additional information useful – this led to some positive interactions and an increased understanding of the criminal record system.

• Engaged with other charities to lobby on the importance of introducing a distinct criminal record system for childhood offences

• This included raising awareness about the impact that cautions and convictions can have on children and young people by adding references to key publications and discussing issues with key stakeholders

• Advocated for the distinct needs of young adults in respect of their criminal record This included responding to the government consultation on their drug white paper and provided input into a key report on early guilty pleas for young adults

Specific projects

1. #FairChecks campaign We have been working with our partner Transform Justice on the FairChecks campaign, which looks to build parliamentary support for fundamental reform of the criminal record system. Following the re-launch in February 2022, we focus on three strategic policy asks:

• No automatic disclosure of cautions

• Wipe the slate clean for childhood offences

• Stop forcing people to reveal short prison sentences forever

As of 31 March 2023, there were 5,697 subscribers to the FairChecks campaign and over 200 MPs were contacted by subscribers over the year.

We have also widened the campaign to include businesses who support FairChecks aims. Alongside the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, we have spoken at several events to raise awareness about the issue. Over 20 businesses signed a statement of support for our call for a fundamental review and reform of the criminal record system.

2. Criminal records disclosure; call for regime change

The Barrow Cadbury Trust funded a strand of work aiming to reduce the number of people negatively affected by the criminal records disclosure system – particularly those who acquired a criminal record as children or young adults. This strand is at the heart of our policy work and documented throughout this report. We continue to call for reform to the criminal records disclosure system to give children and young adults a fair chance to build positive futures. We believe that:

• There should be a distinct, child-specific process for dealing with criminal records received before the age of 18

• Disclosure periods should correspond with age at time of the offence not conviction

• Maturity should be reflected in the disclosure system

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3. Fair access to employment

Our work to tackle the underlying systemic and practical barriers faced by people with criminal records continues to be funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

The law in this area is complex and difficult to navigate, with a lack of official guidance from governments and regulators and few HR specialists having sufficient knowledge or expertise. Through our work with employers, we work toward the following outcomes:

• Employers include people with criminal records as part of diversity and inclusion initiatives

• Government has innovative policies to increase recruitment of people with criminal records

• Unlock is the go-to source of guidance and support for employers across multiple sectors

• Job applicants and employees turn to Unlock to challenge employer bad practice

Over the year, we worked with employers in healthcare, charity, construction, and other sectors on developing a fair approach to asking and assessing criminal records information. This work is tailored to the needs of the specific employer including advice on specific situations, reviewing of policies, providing information sessions, presentations, and training for employees.

We worked with numerous employers including:

• Black Equity Organisation

• Reed

• Department of Work and Pensions

• NHS Business Services Authority

• Connection Crew

• KPMG

• Spark Inside

• Oxley NHS Trust

In addition to working directly with employers, we also carried out the following activities:

• Produced monthly updates for Xpert HR website

• Completed follow-up research to 2018 paper ‘A Question of Fairness’, mystery shopping employers

• Supported key partners to develop their resources, share best practice and report on sector challenges (e.g. Working Chance, Good Jobs project, MOJ (Ministry of Justice), New Futures Network)

• Presented to employers about #FairChecks and at a roundtable hosted by the Saracens Foundation re disclosure of criminal records, ban the box and Fair Chance recruitment.

We also responded to two consultations relevant to inclusive recruitment:

• Institute for Employment Studies commission into employment support

• Professional Standards Authority consultation on elevated criminal record checks

We worked closely with a new partner on the development of the Fair Chance Business Alliance, which is producing an employer-led charter for employers to promote fair and inclusive recruitment. This charter will be based on Unlock’s Fair Chance principles.

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4. Unlocking students with criminal records

This project is funded by the Bruno Schroder Trust.

Despite education being widely recognised as a key factor in successful rehabilitation, current admission policies present serious psychological and practical challenges to accessing higher education. Although there is no evidence that enrolling students with convictions makes campuses more dangerous or that they are more likely to commit crimes on campus, many higher education institutions continue to ask about convictions as part of their admissions policies.

University policies can also deter people from applying. With complex and differing policies and procedures they often fail to follow good practice.

Our universities strand of work aims to increase the number of higher education institutions with fair and inclusive policies and practices from the point that prospective students apply to study and throughout their university stay, so that more people with criminal records can access and benefit from higher education. We do this by:

• Building a comprehensive understanding and database of higher education institutions’ policies relating to students with criminal records.

• Ensuring higher education institutions have appropriate support policies and plans for students with criminal records and the wider student body.

• Encouraging the consideration of people with criminal records as a distinct group that should benefit from targeted work to increase inclusion in higher education

Activities and achievements this year include :

• Reviewed one year of Helpline records relating to higher education, to produce a briefing report on the themes identified

• Conducted full review of universities database of all UK Universities’ policies and publicly available information for applicants

• Built our Fair Study Website for higher education providers to promote and provide guidance on fair approaches for applicants and students with criminal records

• Engaged with numerous universities to highlight challenges relating to criminal records in higher education. This includes ongoing, tailored consultancy and advice as well as general awareness-raising.

• Worked closely with sector partners (e.g. UCAS, Universities UK) to support resource development and influence sector approaches to applicants and students with criminal records

Reports, submissions, and briefings

Throughout the year we published reports and briefings and responded to government consultations. In addition to those referenced above, we published:

• Response to the review into the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

• Unlock policy manifesto – Unlocking Change

• Response to government consultation called ‘New consequences for drug possession’

• Evidence submitted to the Joint Committee on Human Rights parliamentary scrutiny of the proposed Bill of Rights

• Two briefings on why we need reform of the criminal record system and why employers should implement our fair chance principles for recruitment

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Ensuring Unlock is effective, efficient and professional in its work and operations

Invest in our people – Changes in the staff team allowed us to review Unlock’s capacity to deliver on our strategic priorities. A new Director of Policy and Advocacy was recruited and started work in August 2022. Two new policy officers also started work in July 2022 and January 2023 respectively so even though one policy officer moved on in December 2022, the team grew. A new Helpline Adviser also started in June 2022.

We reviewed the existing database being used for all helpline queries, and a new provider was identified which would allow us to use one CRM system for all our work including fundraising, policy work and helpline queries. The move to Beacon was therefore started in Q4 following training for all staff.

Increase our visibility – this included growing our media presence, where it was useful for delivering this strategy. We built on our successful social media presence, developing our strategy further. We also strengthened and aligned our brand to our values and key messages.

Press and media

We continue to build our press and media engagement work, to grow awareness of our work and services as well as support our campaign and policy objectives. This year we continued to include the voices of people with criminal records in our media work and embed our agreed principles of autonomy and informed consent; respect and dignity; anonymity and remuneration. We also continue to develop productive and ongoing relationships with journalists, thereby increasing our pool of engaged media contacts to whom we can pitch proactively. Examples of successful media engagement include:

• Quotes from Unlock in two pieces by the Mirror on the injustice of the ‘exclusionary rule’ which prevents victims of serious crime with unspent convictions from receiving compensation

• An opinion piece in the Charity Times about the over-use of enhanced DBS checks in the charity sector

• Multiple live appearances on BBC Radio Kent

• A live interview with our Chief Executive on Sky News

• Comments featured in The Guardian, Civil Society and inews

Social media

We use our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) to communicate with our audiences in diverse ways. Twitter is a key channel for reaching media, policy, and charity sector audiences, whereas our smaller but highly engaged Facebook audience is primarily people with criminal records who want the latest updates and advice from our team. In the past year LinkedIn has proved a successful channel for us, allowing us to reach professionals in HR and recruitment with our guidance for employers, as well as providing a platform for us to discuss policy issues in more depth than Twitter allows. In 2022-23 we continued to see good engagement across our channels, although the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk in November 2022 caused significant uncertainty and impacted engagement rates for us and many other organisations. We are continuing to monitor how our audience engages across different platforms, and encouraging our followers to join us in the spaces we own, such as our mailing list.

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News & updates mailing lists

Unlock has an open subscription mailing list with over 6,700 subscribers. We send out a range of news and updates about our latest information and advice content, training for frontline practitioners, opportunities for people with criminal records, our policy work, media and vacancies, and fundraising.

In 2022-23 we worked on improving the segmentation of our list to deliver more targeted, relevant emails to our subscribers. We will build on this in the coming year by utilising Beacon, our new CRM system. In 2022-23 we sent out a total of 37 email campaigns across all segments including news and updates, training promotion and opportunities for people with criminal records.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) group (formed in 2021/2) continued to lead Unlock’s EDI work. Comprised of the Chief Executive, two trustees and one member of staff, the group agreed to engage independent and specialist support to help identify areas of strength and potential improvement in our external services and internal policies. After inviting proposals from several organisations, Diverse Matters were commissioned to deliver the audit. As well as a review of all internal policies and external websites and services, Diverse Matters carried out interviews with staff and trustees. Their report identified areas of strength on which we can build, as well as areas for development. The findings of this report, along with input from staff and trustees, will form the basis of the organisation’s EDI strategy to be developed fully in 2023/24.

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FUTURE PLANS

Our top priority plans for the year ahead are:

• Increase the number of people accessing Unlock's helpline services annually by 10% by; o promoting the helpline to organisations representing/working with groups Unlock has traditionally not attracted

• promoting the helpline to prisons

• continue piloting webchat and

o piloting a Unlock volunteering hub in London.

• Create a new digital tool for Unlock’s website which allows people to see what level of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check a role is eligible for

• Develop plans to take advantage of the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act in 2024 to advance Unlock’s goal of a root and branch review of the criminal records system.

• Push for a distinct criminal records system for children and young people, building the evidence base and making alliances with other organisations and decision makers.

• Develop a new project focusing on young adults, starting with setting up a young adult panel to advise on the work.

• Push for better practice and policy change with employers via prison employment advisory boards, the employer-led Fair Chance Business Alliance, Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, and tighter guidance from Information Commissioners Office (ICO)/DBS.

• To improve monitoring, evaluation and learning data collection & data analysis across the organisation so decisions can be made to assess effectiveness and impact of Unlock's work and to inform future activities.

• To improve Unlock's policies, practises, understanding, and culture relating to Equality, Equity Diversity & Inclusion using the 2022 Diverse Matters audit as a baseline.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

The statement of Financial Activities is shown on page 31. The deficit for the year was £33,396 and net assets amounted to £438,559.

Reserves policy

Unlock is dependent on grants to sustain its activities. The charity's reserves policy is to maintain enough unrestricted reserves to enable normal operating activities to continue over a period of up to nine months should a shortfall in income occur, and to take account of potential risks and contingencies that may arise from time to time. Trustees have therefore agreed to hold reserves on the unrestricted general fund equivalent to six months to nine months expected operating expenditure for the year 2023-24, amounting to £313,533. This will allow the charity to continue working and to meet its commitments to staff and other obligations if future income could not be secured.

Any reserves on restricted funds are set aside to fund the specific project or programmes for which the funds were granted. It is common for income to be received in one year, yet programme expenditure straddle one or two years. Reserves for restricted funds therefore represent monies for programmes that are currently ongoing. Unrestricted funds amounted to £313,533 at the year-end (2022 £292,652). Restricted funds amounted to £125,026 at the year-end (2022: £179,303).

The Board of Trustees have agreed to designate a total of £80,000 of unrestricted funds for investment in infrastructure and organisational development, in line with the charity’s strategic priorities over the next three years. These include cyber security and infrastructure improvements, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion improvements, research to further policy work and a training placement for a person with a criminal record.

Future funding

To preserve our ability to respond to user needs and advocate fully on their behalf, Unlock will remain independent of statutory funding to deliver services. Where possible, income is earned by delivering services to other organisations such as training, advertising, and speaker engagements. However, it is envisaged that the charity will continue to rely in the most part on charitable grants and donations.

Fundraising report

Donors to Unlock can be assured that we follow the regulatory standards for fundraising. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and are committed to the Fundraising Promise and adherence to the Code of Fundraising Practice. This report covers the requirements which charities must follow as set out in the Charities Act 2016. We do not employ agencies, external workers or suppliers to fundraise for us. Our website outlines our complaints policy and clearly explains how an individual can complain. We received no complaints in the 2022-23 financial year.

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Principal funding sources

Our total income for the year was £380,724, which was received from the following sources:

	2022/23	2021/22
Grants from trusts and foundations	83%	84%
Donations	4%	5%
Earned income	12%	10%
Investment	<1%	< 1%
Other	<1%	< 1%

Our grateful thanks to the following grant giving funders for their generous support during the year:

1772 Charity, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Bruno Schroder Trust, Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust, Esmee Fairbairn, J Leon Philanthropy, J G Hogg Charitable Trust, Kent Community Foundation, National Lottery Community Fund, Noel Buxton Trust, Persula Foundation, Transform Justice.

Our thanks also to the many individual donors who kindly supported our work.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 20[th] December and signed on its behalf by:

…………………………………………………………………………………..

M K Rowe, Chair of Trustees

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Unlock National Association of Ex-Offenders Ltd ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

Since your charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Nicholas Hume FCA Calcutt Matthews WBZ Ltd 19 North Street Ashford TN24 8LF

Date: ..........20[th] December 2023..............

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

				31.3.23	31.3.22
		Unrestricted		Restricted	Total
			Total
		funds	funds	funds	funds
	Notes	£	£	£	£
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM
Donations and legacies	2	178,373	199,418	377,791	390,978
Investment income	3	1,848	-	1,848	43
Other income		1,085	-	1,085	1,500
Total		181,306	199,418	380,724	392,521
EXPENDITURE ON
Charitable activities	4
Support		20,301	42,391	62,692	73,597
Policy and Advocacy		46,316	115,076	161,392	123,896
Advice and Support		66,097	84,559	150,656	125,616
Governance		8,041	2,317	10,358	6,090
Fundraising		19,673	9,349	29,022	29,660
Total		160,428	253,692	414,120	358,859
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)		20,878	(54,274)	(33,396)	33,662
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward		292,652	179,303	471,955	438,293
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD		313,530	125,029	438,559	471,955

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD BALANCE SHEET 31 March 2023

31.3.23 Unrestricted Restricted Total funds funds funds Notes £ £ £ FIXED ASSETS Intangible assets 8 3,910 16,970 20,880 Tangible assets 9 3,212 3,919 7,131 7,122 20,889 28,011 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 10 3,315 - 3,315 Cash at bank and in hand 307,536 104,139 411,675 310,851 104,139 414,990 CREDITORS Amounts falling due within one year 11 (4,440) - (4,442) NET CURRENT ASSETS 306,411 104,137 410,548 TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 313,533 125,026 438,559 NET ASSETS 313,533 125,026 438,559

31.3.22 Total funds £ 27,840 1,286 29,126 2,954 443,275 446,229 (3,400) 442,829 471,955 471,955

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD BALANCE SHEET - continued 31 March 2023

31.3.23 Unrestricted Restricted Total funds funds funds Notes £ £ £ FUNDS 13 Unrestricted funds: General fund 313,533 Restricted funds: The 1772 Charity 1,600 Porticus UK 1,301 Barrow Cadbury Trust 1,127 The Noel Buxton Trust 3,000 Lawson Endowment for Kent - Garfield Weston Foundation 8,052 29thMay 1961 Charitable Trust - The J G Hogg Charitable Trust 2,902 National Lottery Community Fund 5,368 Designated Fund 80,000 Allen and Overy - Bruno Schroder Trust 6,681 Charles Hayward Foundation - City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity 3,200 Cole Charitable Trust 918 Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust 6,519 The Big Give Christmas Challenge 4,358 125,026 TOTAL FUNDS 438,559

31.3.22 Total funds £ 292,652 2,000 33,614 - 2,750 3,332 17,500 250 - 6,291 80,000 5,000 6,150 834 4,000 1,200 16,382 - 179,303 471,955

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

• (a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

• (b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

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BALANCE SHEET - continued 31 March 2023

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 20[th] December 2023 and were signed on its behalf by:

........................................................................... M K Rowe - Trustee

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they all have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Support costs are allocated to charitable activities on the following bases:

Staff, communication and office costs - Staff time.

Premises costs and depreciation - Staff time

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings - 25% on cost Computer equipment - 25% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Unrestricted funds include a revaluation reserve representing the restatement of investment assets at market values.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

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1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES - continued

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations Grants Earned income	31.3.23 £ 16,721 316,808 44,262 377,791	31.3.22 £ 20,930 330,023 40,025 390,978

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2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES - continued

Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:

Persula Foundation Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust The Noel Buxton Trust Kent Community Foundation (The Overstone Grass Roots Fund) Sir James Roll Charitable Trust The 1772 Charitable Trust Porticus UK J Leon Philanthropy Ten Percent Foundation AB Charitable Trust Barrow Cadbury Trust (St Sarkis) Lawson Endowment for Kent Charles Hayward Foundation City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity 3Ts Charitable Fund The Cole Charitable Trust Garfield Weston Foundation W F Southall Trust Whitehead Monckton Charitable Trust Barrow Cadbury Trust – EU Nationals Kent Community Foundation Core Costs Transform Justice The J G Hogg Charitable Trust Barrow Cadbury Trust National Lottery Allen and Overy Bruno Schroder Trust Esmee Fairbairn Cost of Living	31.3.23 £ 6,000 15,000 3,000 10,000 - 1,000 - 10,000 - - 30,000 - - - - - - - - - - 5,750 20,000 - 66,148 - 59,910 90,000 316,808	31.3.22 £ - 28,000 3,000 - 800 2,000 49,998 10,000 500 20,000 - 5,000 5,000 4,000 10,000 1,200 10,000 3,000 1,000 5,000 3,000 6,000 10,000 31,500 64,835 5,000 51,190 - 330,023

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3. INVESTMENT INCOME

Deposit account interest CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS Support Policy and Advocacy Advice and Support Governance Fundraising	Direct Costs £ 58,586 161,392 32,236 5,648 - 257,862	31.3.23 £ 1,848 Support costs £ 4,106 - 118,420 4,710 29,022 156,258	31.3.22 £ 43 Totals £ 62,692 161,392 150,656 10,358 29,022
			414,120

4. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS

5. NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):

	31.3.23	31.3.22
	£	£
Depreciation - owned assets	1,059	4,256
Other operating leases	12,195	12,195
Development costs amortisation	6,960	6,960

6. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2023 nor for the year ended 31 March 2022.

Trustees' expenses

Trustees' expenses
	31.3.23	31.3.22
	£	£
Trustees' expenses	550	405

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7. STAFF COSTS

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

Staff No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000. Staff numbers above represent the FTE of 9 employees. 8. INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS COST At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 AMORTISATION At 1 April 2022 Charge for year At 31 March 2023 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022	31.3.23 31.3.22 9 8 Development costs £ 34,800 6,960 6,960 13,920 20,880 27,840

These intangible assets were purchased by restricted grants.

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9. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS COST At 1 April 2022 Additions At 31 March 2023 DEPRECIATION At 1 April 2022 Charge for year At 31 March 2023 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022 10. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Trade debtors Prepayments and accrued income 11. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Bank loans and overdrafts (see note 12) Accruals and deferred income Accrued expenses

Fixtures and Computer fittings equipment Totals £ £ £ 19,128 20,231 39,359 - 6,904 6,904 19,128 27,135 46,263 19,128 18,945 38,073 - 1,059 1,059 19,128 20,004 39,132 - 7,131 7,131 - 1,286 1,286 31.3.23 31.3.22 £ £ 1,800 2,954 1,515 - 3,315 2,954 31.3.23 31.3.22 £ £ 2 1,000 1,800 - 2,640 2,400 4,442 3,400

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12. LOANS

An analysis of the maturity of loans is given below:

Amounts falling due within one year on demand: Bank overdrafts 13. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds The 1772 Charity Porticus UK Barrow Cadbury Trust The Noel Buxton Trust Lawson Endowment for Kent Garfield Weston Foundation 29thMay 1961 Charitable Trust The J G Hogg Charitable Trust National Lottery Community Fund Designated Fund Allen and Overy Bruno Schroder Trust Charles Hayward Foundation City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity Cole Charitable Trust Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust The Big Give Christmas Challenge TOTAL FUNDS	At 1.4.22 £ 292,652 2,000 33,614 - 2,750 3,332 17,500 250 - 6,291 80,000 5,000 6,150 834 4,000 1,200 16,382 - 179,303 471,955	31.3.23 £ 2 Net movement in funds £ 20,881 (400) (32,313) 1,127 250 (3,332) (9,448) (250) 2,902 (923) - (5,000) 531 (834) (800) (282) (9,863) 4,358 (54,277) (33,396)	31.3.22 £ 1,000 At 31.3.23 £ 313,533 1,600 1,301 1,127 3,000 - 8,052 - 2,902 5,368 80,000 - 6,681 - 3,200 918 6,519 4,358 125,026 438,559

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

13. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds The 1772 Charity Porticus UK Barrow Cadbury Trust The Noel Buxton Trust Lawson Endowment for Kent Garfield Weston Foundation 29thMay 1961 Charitable Trust The J G Hogg Charitable Trust National Lottery Community Fund Allen and Overy Bruno Schroder Trust Charles Hayward Foundation City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity Cole Charitable Trust Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust The Big Give Christmas Challenge TOTAL FUNDS	Incoming resources £ 181,306 1,000 - 30,001 3,000 - - - 20,000 66,148 - 59,911 - - - 15,000 4,358 199,418 380,724	Resources Movement expended in funds £ £ (160,425) 20,881 (1,400) (400) (32,313) (32,313) (28,874) 1,127 (2,750) 250 (3,332) (3,332) (9,448) (9,448) (250) (250) (17,098) 2,902 (67,071) (923) (5,000) (5,000) (59,380) 531 (834) (834) (800) (800) (282) (282) (24,863) (9,863) - 4,358 (253,695) (54,277) (414,120) (33,396)

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13. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued

Comparatives for movement in funds

Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds Fairness Foundation Esmee Fairbairn Foundation The 1772 Charity Porticus UK The Noel Buxton Trust Lawson Endowment for Kent Garfield Weston Foundation 29thMay 1961 Charitable Trust Whitehead Monckton Charitable Trust National Lottery Community Fund Designated Fund Allen and Overy Bruno Schroder Trust Charles Hayward Foundation City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity Cole Charitable Trust Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust TOTAL FUNDS	At 1.4.21 £ 330,293 3,000 30,000 - 40,000 - - 7,500 1,500 1,000 - 25,000 - - - - - - 108,000 438,293	Net movement in funds £ 17,359 (3,000) (30,000) 2,000 (6,386) 2,750 3,332 10,000 (1,250) (1,000) 6,291 - 5,000 6,150 834 4,000 1,200 16,382 16,303 33,662	Transfers between funds £ (55,000) - - - - - - - - - - 55,000 - - - - - - 55,000 -	At 31.3.22 £ 292,652 - - 2,000 33,614 2,750 3,332 17,500 250 - 6,291 80,000 5,000 6,150 834 4,000 1,200 16,382 179,303 471,955

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13. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds Fairness Foundation Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Kent Community Foundation The 1772 Charity Porticus UK Barrow Cadbury Trust The Noel Buxton Trust Lawson Endowment for Kent Garfield Weston Foundation W F Southall Trust 29thMay 1961 Charitable Trust Whitehead Monckton Charitable Trust Barrow Cadbury Trust – EU Nationals National Lottery Community Fund Allen and Overy Bruno Schroder Trust Charles Hayward Foundation City & Metropolitan Welfare Charity Cole Charitable Trust Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust TOTAL FUNDS	Incoming resources £ 119,796 - - 3,000 2,000 49,998 31,500 3,001 5,000 10,000 3,000 - 1,000 5,000 64,835 5,000 51,191 5,000 4,000 1,200 28,000 272,725 392,521	Resources Movement expended in funds £ £ (102,437) 17,359 (3,000) (3,000) (30,000) (30,000) (3,000) - - 2,000 (56,384) (6,386) (31,500) - (251) 2,750 (1,668) 3,332 - 10,000 (3,000) - (1,250) (1,250) (2,000) (1,000) (5,000) - (58,544) 6,291 - 5,000 (45,041) 6,150 (4,166) 834 - 4,000 - 1,200 (11,618) 16,382 (256,422) 16,303 (358,859) 33,662

During the year, expenditure allocated to the CMWC, 1772 and CCT funds consisted of amortisation against fixed assets that are held within the restricted funds.

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14. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2023.

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

	31.3.23	31.3.22
	£	£
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Donations and legacies
Donations	16,721	20,930
Grants	316,808	330,023
Earned income	44,262	40,025
	377,791	390,978
Investment income
Deposit account interest	1,848	43
Other income
Other income	1,085	1,500
Total incoming resources	380,724	392,521
EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities
Wages	199,297	185,173
Social security	18,573	18,140
Pensions	11,020	11,776
Training	2,872	1,084
Travel	5,679	1,518
Volunteer costs	20,408	1,995
Sundries	13	15
	257,862	219,701
Support costs
Management
Wages	88,841	83,195
Social security	4,524	4,418
Pensions	2,888	3,085
Recruitment	800	10,788
	97,053	101,486
Finance
Other operating leases - rent	12,195	12,195
Insurance	1,368	1,334
Repairs & renewals	668	69
Carried forward	14,231	13,598

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UNLOCK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EX-OFFENDERS LTD DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2023

	31.3.23	31.3.22
	£	£
Finance
Brought forward	14,231	13,598
Conference fees and room hire	178	63
	14,409	13,661
Information technology
Software	17,384	1,824
Development costs	6,960	6,960
Computer equipment	1,060	4,256
	25,404	13,040
Human resources
Subscriptions	10,482	4,509
Websites	1,800	476
Telephone	2,167	2,044
Postage and stationery	592	165
Bank charges	455	331
	15,496	7,525
Governance costs
Trustees' expenses	550	405
Accountancy and legal fees	3,346	3,041
	3,896	3,446
Total resources expended	414,120	358,859
Net (expenditure)/income	(33,396)	33,662

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