Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how sex offenders have breached their notification requirements in the past year.

Public protection is a priority for this Government and the notification requirements for registered sex offenders are an invaluable tool to help the police manage risk. Breach of the requirements is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.

The Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Report 2020/21 shows that in the year to March 2022, 1,641 offenders subject to notification requirements were cautioned or convicted for breaches.

The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and those who pose a risk of sexual harm, and we are committed to ensuring that the system is as robust as it can be.

We want to ensure our system is as robust as it can be, which is why we have strengthened the regime through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, and in March, the then Home Secretary appointed former Chief Constable Mick Creedon to carry out an independent review into the police management of registered sex offenders. The review has delivered recommendations to the Government on what could be done across the policing and law enforcement landscape to enhance the management of registered sex offenders in the community in England and Wales.