§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convicted sex offenders are resident in the Buckingham constituency. [14206]
§ Beverley HughesUntil recently data on the number of registered sex offenders were collated bi-annually on a national basis from the police national computer (PNC). The most recent national statistics concerning sex offender registration are shown in the table. However, this arrangement has been overtaken by guidance issued by the Home Office in respect of the statutory provisions in Section 67 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. The guidance requires information about the number of registered sex offenders in each police area to be published. This will take place from April 2002 and local systems are being put in place to deliver it. Until these systems are in place such information could only be obtained by a specific exercise by the particular police force concerned which would lead to disproportionate costs.
After April 2002 such figures will be available for each police authority area. However, this will not necessarily be the same as the Parliamentary constituency.
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Sex offenders act 1997—Statistics1 September 2000 March 2001 Increase Percentage change Number of offenders with a requirement to register 13,809 15,148 1,339 +9.7 Number registered 13,474 14,813 1,379 +10.3 Number not registered2 375 (2.7%) 335 (2.2%) -40 -10.6 Compliance rate (percentage) 97.28 97.78 0.5 +0.5 1 Statistics compiled by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) from a PNC 2 Percentages given in brackets are a fraction of the number of offenders with a registration document