§ Mr. EtheringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to ensure that children are protected from convicted sex offenders. [5601]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Government give a very high priority to ensuring that children are protected from sex offenders. There are a number of proposals under consideration, including legislating to enable sex offenders on release from prison to be supervised by the probation service for much longer periods of time, and making it an offence for a convicted sex offender to seek work with, or offer services to, children.
We also plan to implement the Sex Offenders Act 1997 as soon as possible. It will require offenders convicted of serious sex offences against children to notify the police of their name and address and any change in these details and we are determined to make sure the information is used to protect children rather than gathering dust in a file or sitting unused on a computer database.