Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) how many times registered sex offenders have been charged with failing to notify the police of a change of name in the past 5 years, and (b) what sentences they received.

The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.

Qualifying offenders are required to notify their personal details to the police. This system is often referred to as the ‘sex offenders’ register’ and requires offenders to provide their local police station with a record of personal details, including their name, address, date of birth, bank details, and national insurance number. Failure to inform the police of a change of name is a breach of the requirements and is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

Figures for number of offenders cautioned or conviction for breaches of the notification requirements are published by the Ministry of Justice in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements Annual Report, which is available on gov.uk. This does not include a breakdown of the number of individuals charged, however, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of this information which shows 16,298 offenders were charged with breach of the notification requirements between 2015 and 2020.

A breakdown of the nature of the breach or on the sentences received by those convicted is not collated centrally.