NSPCC: Low police response puts kids at risk

Manchester children may be at a heightened risk of harm from paedophiles as police fail to reveal how often they give information about sexual offenders to concerned parents, warns the NSPCC.

The murder of her daughter Sarah by Roy Whiting in July 2000 prompted calls for a UK version of the Megan’s Law which allows people in the US to find out the location of sex offenders in their area.

As to the force’s apparent lack of disclosure figures after the first year the law was introduced, the force said it was asked by the Home Office to do so for that first year, but afterwards there was no statutory requirement to continue collating the data.

The scheme allows requests to be considered about individuals suspected or convicted of other offences which have caused or could cause a child to be at risk of harm.

“Police considerations include the risk posed by an offender increasing through disclosure, the applicant’s need to know the information in order to protect a child or children, and the possibility of vigilantism”.

A total of 5,357 applications have been made to 33 forces nationwide between 2011 and 2014, but only 877 of them resulted in information being disclosed.

CC Bailey said: “The police service enjoys a strong working relationship with the NSPCC and we are always prepared to have frank and mutually supportive conversations about how we can best work together to protect children”.

It’s claimed children here in Wales are at risk of abuse because of issues with a paedophile warning system. But particularly in relation to Sarah’s Law, police do need to have a look at it, their application of it and the consistency of its use.

The variation in disclosures has led the NSPCC to decry it as a “postcode lottery”.

The scheme, also known as Child Sex Offenders Disclosure (CSOD), was brought in in 2011 following the murder of 8-year-old Surrey schoolgirl Sarah Payne. At the other end of the spectrum, Cleveland police gave out information to 131 out of 147 applications, which equates to 89%.

Staffordshire Police gave out information in seven per cent of applications – eight of the 107 received.

“While there may be very good reasons for not disclosing information held to applicants, some forces seem to be too cautious, which could put children at serious risk of harm”.

“But in our view that doesn’t explain this low percentage rate and it doesn’t explain the variability across the country”.

Remember, nearly all child sex offenders are released eventually. At the NSPCC we think this strikes the right balance.

A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said: “The aim of this scheme is to provide parents, guardians and carers with information that will enable them to safeguard their children’s safety and welfare”.

But the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children today accused police forces of operating a “postcode lottery” after it was revealed that, on average, forces only disclosed information in 16 per cent of cases.

“Once a request is made from a member of the public an initial risk assessment is carried out to establish if a child is at risk, and relevant, immediate action will be taken”.

He said: “Families need to know if there are individuals in their area who pose a risk to children”. How can you expect them to protect their children if they don’t know someone is a threat?

Despite the variation in disclosures among forces, Wiltshire Police say in many cases there are no concerns over the subject, so a disclosure is not necessary.

Five forces said they had received 908 applications but did not provide information about disclosure numbers.

“Out of the 193 applications, 14 were given disclosures”. Of the remainder there may have been information already shared with partner agencies, no information about that person to disclosure, information may already be in the public domain and at times we have made disclosures to family members who have direct responsibility for a child.