NSPCC Warn Cambridgeshire Children May Be At Risk

With such inconsistency of disclosure levels across the country, the question must be asked as to whether Sarah’s Law is yet delivering the benefit its supporters originally intended.

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information requests to police forces show information has only been disclosed in one out of every six applications. Aimi Redfern explores how and why disclosures have been made in Staffordshire…

An investigation by the NSPCC revealed 374 applications were made to three of the four Welsh police forces (Dyfed Powys, North Wales and South Wales police) between 2011 and 2014.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said the body was “disturbed and surprised” by the “wide discrepancy” of figures.

“Families need to know if there are individuals in their area who pose a risk to children”.

“How can you expect parents to make the right choices to protect their children if they don’t knowwho is a threat?” Cumbria Police had among the highest proportion of successful applications with nine out of 14 resulting in disclosures.

“If there is found to be a risk, depending on the specific circumstances, a disclosure may not be made directly to the applicant but to the person with responsibility for protecting the child”.

Explaining the process, he said each request is assessed on an individual basis with risk assessments carried out by experienced staff.

“This may be because many of those people who were the subject of an application simply do not have any convictions or concerns and therefore a disclosure is not made”.

Police officers search for Sarah Payne in July 2000.

The desperate hunt to find her gripped the nation and millions hoped and prayed she would be found.

Remember, nearly all child sex offenders are released eventually. How had this man, who was known to be a danger to the public, been allowed to slip through the net and take Sarah from her family?

Children’s charity the NSPCC has claimed there is a Sarah’s Law’ postcode lottery after the force received 114 disclosure applications by anxious members of the public.

Sarah’s Law was eventually introduced in Sussex in 2011.

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”.

However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead on Child Protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, accused the NSPCC of being “unhelpful and potentially misleading”. The wide variation in disclosure numbers doesn’t breed confidence that the scheme is being understood or applied consistently.

Children may be at risk of harm from sexual predators as very few police forces are making full use of “Sarah’s Law”, the NSPCC warns today. We believe the only way we can ensure this is happening is through regular, independent evaluation.

Play video “Child Abuse: “Prevention Is Key”.

Day had already admitted breaching the order – designed to protect children from him – by driving a young girl to school.

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

Sarah’s Law disclosures regarding paedophiles like Day may have protected his young victim and hundreds of others like her. Four did not supply any data and one had recorded no applications.

Suffolk police disclosed information they held for around a third of applications (31 out of 93 made).

He said: “I am confident that this law is saving children from being victims of sexual offences”. If a disclosure is subsequently made, it is strictly confidential.

It allows parents and others to ask police for details about individuals if they suspect they might harm children. “The reason for this being quite simply that there was no information to disclose”. Official figures show the proven reoffending rate for convicted child sex offenders is around 1 in 10, so 2,000 or more will go on to commit further offences against children.

In Staffordshire, police have revealed information in eight cases, after receiving 107 applications.