HC Deb 07 May 2002 vol 385 cc73-4W
Norman Baker

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department under what circumstances schedule 1 sex offenders are allowed unsupervised contact with children. [41974]

Mr. Keith Bradley

[holding answer 11 March 2002]: I have been asked to reply.

Schedule 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 is a list of cruelty, violent and sexual offences against children. This list has been used by various agencies as a way of identifying those committing these offences as posing a risk to children, although not all necessarily do so or do so currently. Some of those guilty of offences on the list, for example, may have committed the offence many years previously, may themselves have been children at the time and the offence may have, for example, involved a fight with another child of a similar age. Others convicted of offences on the list may have been engaged in mutually agreed sexual activity, albeit with someone under the age of legal consent, to whom they were relatively close in age. There are no specified requirements flowing from commission of an offence on Schedule 1 of this Act that prohibit offenders from having unsupervised contact with children. There are, however, other more recent means of achieving this and of protecting children from the risk that violent and sexual offenders pose.

Those offenders sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment are released subject to a licence which can include, in relevant cases, a requirement not to have unsupervised contact with children. Breach of these conditions can result in a return to prison. Moreover, a similar prohibition can be included in a Sex Offender Order, for which the police can apply to magistrates' court with respect to a convicted sex offender whose current behaviour indicates they pose a risk of serious harm. Breaching the terms of the order may result in a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment.

Part 2 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 provides for certain of those convicted of offences against children to be disqualified from seeking or taking employment, whether paid or unpaid, with children in the future.

The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act also placed a statutory duty jointly on the policy and probation services to put arrangements in place for assessing and managing the risk posed by sexual and violent offenders. These arrangements enable a risk assessment to be undertaken and plans to be devised for managing the risk that such offenders pose.

Despite these measures, it nonetheless remains important for parents to be vigilant about those to whom they entrust the care of their children, particularly when they are not present to ensure their safety.

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