View from the House: Scheme to protect children appears to be working

Jan 26 2010 By Ian Taylor, MP for Esher & Walton

THE murder of little Sarah Payne in 2000, by a man later found already to have been convicted of sex offences, shocked the nation.

As their MP, I had several meetings with the parents, and went with the mother, Sara, to meet the Home Secretary. The traumas associated with the savage killing caused a campaign for 'Sarah's Law' and provoked demonstrations to increase efforts to keep children safe from predatory paedophiles.

I have always been careful not to endorse full and automatic public access to information about sex offenders - such schemes could lead to vigilante attacks and could drive offenders further underground from where they could be dangerous. Yet it is clear that some greater protection and sense of security for families is needed.

So I gave a cautious welcome to the 2008 announcement of the trial of a limited and restricted sex offender scheme in Southampton, Warwickshire, north Cambridgeshire and Stockton-on-Tees.

The early results appear to be extremely encouraging and the project has protected

children as intended.

In the first six months, 150 parents made inquiries. Of those, 10 were given relevant information.

Under the pilots, parents, carers and guardians were able to ask the police for information as to whether someone with access to a child has convictions or has been previously suspected of abuse.

Disclosure is only made to parents and others with a direct interest in a child about a carer who has regular unsupervised access. The police and probation service consider each individual request. In each of the pilot areas, police have been obliged to look into the background of individuals and consider providing information to parents.

This might include confirmation of a previous conviction for sexual offences, domestic violence or an indication that the individual is suspected of being a danger to children. However, police may choose not to disclose information, such as convictions, if child protection teams conclude the individual no longer poses a risk to youngsters.

In as much as the pilots empowered the parent to take the initiative and register an interest in an individual, they have my support, as indeed would the wider rolling out of the scheme. I hope the government will continue to work closely with police, charities and other bodies to ensure the scheme achieves its objective.

Sexual perverts continue to be tracked down. The news of consideration of extension of the pilot schemes comes in the week after a Hersham man, a former school teacher, received a prison sentence for attempting to engage in sexual activity in front of a child.

Sara Payne, who is now the government's Victims Tsar, has been undergoing treatment after complications following brain surgery, but is said to have responded well.

I hope this news will speed her full recovery. She is an impressive campaigner for safety of other children in her daughter's memory.