§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans Her Majesty's Government have to deal with repeat sex offenders; and if he will make a statement; [9678]
(2) what plans Her Majesty's Government have for the co-ordination on a national level of efforts to apprehend paedophile, child pornographers and those who use child pornography; [9676]
3) what plans Her Majesty's Government have for the adoption of a national register of paedophiles; and if he will make a statement; [9679]
(4) what percentage of people previously convicted of sex offences against children have since November 1993 reoffended after release; and what plans Her Majesty's Government have for monitoring the rate of repeat sex offences against children. [9677]
§ Mr. MacleanThe Government are considering a range of proposals to deal more effectively with sex offenders. I have already proposed that anyone convicted for the second time of a serious sexual or violent offence should receive an automatic life sentence. They would then only be released when they no longer presented a threat to the public. Full details for these proposals will be set out in a White Paper in the spring.
A national police intelligence network on paedophiles already exists and a dedicated paedophile unit within the National Criminal Intelligence Service maintains a database of those who are actively involved in paedophilia. The unit is responsible for developing and disseminating intelligence on those involved in offences of paedophilia both nationally and internationally. Phoenix, the new criminal records database on the police national computer, will give the police instant access to full details of persons convicted of all serious offences, including paedophile and other sex offences.
Statistics on the convictions and the reconvictions of sex offenders do not separately identify offences against children. The special information requested is not therefore available.