Offences against Children: Disclosure of Information
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of current levels of consistency amongst [i] Councils [ii] Police and [iii] CPS of [a] the recording and [b] the publishing of data regarding the background of child sexual offenders.
Answered by Natalie Fleet
Having been commissioned by the Home Office, Baroness Casey made clear in her National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June last year, that the recording and publication of data on the background of child sex offenders by police forces was variable and insufficient.
Last July, the then Home Secretary wrote to all Chief Constables making clear that ethnicity data should be collected from all suspects in child sexual exploitation (CSE) cases and to urge them to make sure they are fulfilling this obligation. We are also legislating to give the Home Secretary the power to mandate the collection of ethnicity data by police officers. The Police Reform White Paper, set out our intention to put data standards for policing, including in this area, on a statutory footing.
The recording and publication of data by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Local Authorities are outside the remit of the Home Secretary.
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