The Fair Chance Business Alliance (FCBA) is encouraging UK employers to tap into a talent pool of 9.6 million working-age people with criminal records as it launches a new national campaign to advance fair chance hiring at scale as an effective solution to widening skills gaps and persistent workforce shortages.
The call to action forms a crucial part of ‘Unite 1K,’ a landmark campaign launched during the UK’s inaugural Fair Chance Week to mobilise 1,000 employers to embed truly inclusive hiring practices through adoption of the Fair Chance Charter, a ‘Disability Confident’ for the justice sector.
The FCBA emphasises that bridging the gap between overlooked talent and national skills shortages is both an economic necessity and a moral imperative. The cost of reoffending alone is now nearly double the entire Ministry of Justice (MoJ) budget at an estimated £26.3 billion each year, representing an annual burden of £672 per taxpayer. However, stable employment is proven to be one of the most effective and durable interventions against reoffending.
Keith Jones, the FCBA Chair, notes that: “The UK cannot afford to sideline a ‘waiting workforce’ the size of Greater London. Many of these records stem from minor or historic incidents. For instance, in 2022, 30% of all convictions for women were for non-payment of a TV licence. Fair Chance Week is about raising awareness and championing the benefits of opening doors to opportunity, whilst proving that across every sector, there is resilient, trustworthy talent ready to work.”
As misconceptions fade and confidence grows in the business case around fair chance hiring, forward-thinking employers adopting the Fair Chance Charter have an opportunity to remove outdated barriers, tap into a vast talent pool, and create real social impact. The FCBA is also supporting UK government ambitions of reaching an 80% employment rate, reducing the welfare burden, increasing economic activity and facilitating generational social mobility.
Fair Chance Week brings together businesses, charities and government departments, mirroring the success of Second Chance Month in the United States.
The Unite 1K campaign launched at Virgin Group’s offices in London. The Virgin Group is a founding member of the Alliance and was among the earliest adopters of the Charter.
Nikki Humphrey, Chief People Officer at Virgin Group, comments: “People should be judged on their potential, not defined by their past. We’ve seen people who were once counted out go on to thrive in roles across Virgin. Unite 1K is an opportunity for employers across the UK to unlock this enormous pool of talented, motivated people who deserve a fair chance. It’s not just the right thing to do, it also strengthens businesses, the economy and communities. When employers create fair chances, it benefits everyone.”
To support truly inclusive workforces, Unite 1K will also deploy a new digital platform curated by Accenture, giving employers a comprehensive ecosystem of partners, insights and resources to embed fair chances into their HR approaches and business strategies. From FTSE 100 companies to regional SMEs, the Alliance is calling on businesses of all sizes to prioritise potential over past mistakes.
Businesses interested in joining the Alliance, adopting the Charter, or becoming a campaign partner can find more information at: www.fairchancealliance.co.uk
Andrew Kinniburgh is Director General of Make UK Defence, the trade body representing the UK’s defence manufacturing sector. Andrew leads the organisation’s work to support and grow the UK’s defence industrial base, working with government, the armed forces, and industry to ensure British manufacturers are at the forefront of delivering the nation’s defence capability.
Neil Wood is Chief Operating Officer of the Fair Chance Business Alliance, a national organisation working to help employers access the talent of people with criminal records. Neil leads the Alliance’s operational work to embed fair chance hiring across UK businesses, from FTSE 100 companies to regional SMEs, and is a leading voice in the campaign to reduce reoffending through sustainable employment.
This article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the UK Defence Journal. If you would like to submit your own article on this topic or any other, please see our submission guidelines
It’s true you can get a criminal record for some strange stuff in this country.. say your 14 year old suffered from autism and you cannot get a diagnosis ( it takes about 2-3 years) and they decided they cannot go to school.. if they miss 5 days in a row three times in a row both parents can end up in court with a criminal record.
Fair enough, but I’m all for criminalising women for watching Loose Women!
“30% of all convictions for women were for non-payment of a TV licence.”
Some things are unforgivable..
There really should be a law against “Loose Women”….. I blame “Slack Alice”.
Literally the worst thing I’ve ever seen, and I was in Iraq when those ‘8 Iraqi soldiers, 1 goat’ videos were circulating.
Also, where’s Jim? He seems to have missed this article, so I’ll post it for him.
‘The UK continues to lead the world in criminal innovation. Our criminals are world beating, best in class, and operate at a standard other nations can only aspire to. We are proud to remain at the cutting edge of illicit enterprise. World beating. Best criminals on the planet.’
“Shut that door”
A couple of years ago we had a labour shortage, but now we apparently have a ‘slowing recruitment landscape’ according to the ONS, with a substantial dip in job vacancies. In that context, talking about an untapped ‘talent pool’ seems somewhat irrelevant- if you aren’t interested in hiring anybody anyway, then the criminal record status of the prospective workforce is of purely academic interest. If the government were to focus on policy decisions that cut business costs and encouraged growth and hiring then things would be different, but they seem Hell-bent on doing the exact opposite.
Didn’t they used to almost sentence people to join the military? Definitely during the world wars people were given the option to enlist instead of going to prison. And in the 18th and 19th century it was an alternative for debtors and other criminals. They were described in the 1702 Mutiny Act as “persons of blemished character or unsettled mode of life”. In WW1 it was argued that people should not be able to evade conscription by commiting a felony.
Now we have a professional military we are told we can’t afford to pay, with strict limits on the numbers joining. We’ve talked about recruitment on this forum a lot and whether we are too picky in too many areas. I can see relaxing that pickiness somewhat wouldn’t be a bad idea. However, there’s little incentive for the army to straighten people out as a public service, and none at all to return to the era of the “scum of the earth” (I say army particularly as they used to have the lowest standards of the services for accepting convicts. The press gangs might have impressed any unemployed seafarer of the right age, but during WW1 over a dozen convicted sailors who weren’t allowed back in the Navy were released from Scottish prisons early to join the Army.)
Perhaps a review of which crimes should bar you from the military is in order, but that’s as far as I think it should go in the modern era.
In the 19th century you didn’t use encrypted radio communication the breaking of which can means the difference between victory and defeat. Practically everything is secret on the boats, just a photo of the acoustic mounts is worth considerable amounts to interested parties. Samples of the alloys used in jet turbine blades, again worth a lot. The same goes for the the stealth coating on the F35s. When your armed forces are dependent on technological superiority that technology has lots of people wanting it. See the damage that the Walker spy ring did for details
Another report that won’t make a jot of difference. If you are interviewing you either take to a person or you don’t. Criminality, race and gender shouldn’t come into it.
You won’t get through vetting with a criminal record.
Depends on the crime, i.e. whether it has any meaningful security risk implications. It certainly isn’t a blanket bar.
Fair comment.
SC clearance is such a ball ache at the moment with the enormous delays, now imagine going through that process with a criminal record! Good luck with that.
Ignoring vetting rules worked out so well with Mandelson. It’s almost like there’s a reason why you can’t get clearance with a criminal record.
Not the same I know….but, a sort of “Penal unit” for the British Army?
All tradesmen from plumbers to carpenters to bricklayers to scaffolders, with a criminal record, recruited into a Regiment to recreate that lost with 23 RE being disbanded, who were Pinoneers.
Issues?
You want to trust encrypted communication systems to convicts?
If they’ve been released, as in the article, then they are not convicts, are they.
That is the whole point of the article.
And what encrypted communication systems did 23 RE use beyond Bowman? It is hardly STRAP stuff is it?
Bowman uses a Pritchell II cryptographic algorithm. Its also a way into JTRS if that enters service. There was an idea to make SINCGARS compatible but I was out of the loop before a decision was made.
Thanks, Ron.
Maybe some vetted RS specialists could be assigned if that was a problem?
The useful trades people might have but which cannot be utilised if they have a record, so my thoughts landed with the Pioneers.
Just an idea!
Honestly, was talking to a friend the other day of a similar concept of a “Pioneer Corps” but more open to people and not entirely within the army, but treated as a civilian adjacent option like the RFA (Just don’t play dumb with pay), get them trained in engineering and construction, use them for building out bases where we are deployed, but also give them practice by giving them the ability to do public works projects within the UK and then maybe also fold stuff like the Foreign aid budget into it, where instead of just supporting our soft power by giving other nations money, we instead offer to let the “Pioneer Corps” go out and do infrastructure works for them too.
Would effectively fold foreign aid budget into the military by moving the construction side onto using that money, freeing up budget within the army budget for equipment and staff, while still retaining some of the soft power options that are open to us from foreign aid.
All sounds like a sensible idea, Ben.
How about cutting the age discrimination, I reckon that in my 60s I am fitter and stronger than a large number of the current 18 year olds.
Also open up to people who have been living abroad, particularly those in Europe. I am British and lived in Germany, even working on German defence work, but all the time everyone says I can’t get security clearance (though apparently it’s not true)
Should not be any criminals should there? Starmers socialist Paradise has so much free stuff who needs to steal? Or work?