HC Deb 28 February 2002 vol 380 cc1498-9W
Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether sex offenders whose offences are deemed spent after the completion of youth offender panel orders must remain on the Sex Offenders' Register. [38330]

Beverley Hughes

[holding answer 27 February 2002]: The Sex Offenders Act 1997 imposes requirements on offenders cautioned, convicted, or found not guilty by reason of insanity in respect of an offence specified in Schedule 1 to the Act for a specified period. The minimum duration specified is five years. However, the Act also provides that determinate periods will be halved when the offender in question is under the age of 18. Whether a conviction is spent, in the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, has no impact on the requirements of the Sex Offenders Act.

The review of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, which we published in July last year, contains a chapter on its application to children and young people who sexually abuse. The consultation period on the review ended on 19 October 2001 and we are currently considering responses to consultation.