This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Agencies pledge sex offender monitoring
15/03/2005
A new national concordat to improve the way agencies work together to deal with sex offenders was launched in Edinburgh today.
The concordat - signed by the Minister, Solicitor General, as well as representatives from the Crown Office, Scottish Court Service, police and Scottish Prison Service - represents the culmination of an important piece of work by the Information Sharing Steering Group.
Chaired by the Solicitor General, this was set up to take forward one of the key recommendations of the 2001 Cosgrove report - to improve information sharing among all organisations involved in monitoring sex offenders to better manage the risk they may pose.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said:
"Sex offenders represent a small group of criminals in our communities but rightly are often the ones which generate the greatest public concern. That's why we are committed to continually looking at new ways to tighten the controls on them and minimise the risks which they may pose to the public.
"Last week, as part of that on-going commitment, I announced plans in our new Management of Offenders Bill to give the courts greater powers to take action against those who fail to comply with the terms of the sex offenders' registration scheme. And to require the police, local authorities and the Scottish Prison Service to establish joint arrangements for assessing and managing the risk posed by sex offenders.
"Such partnership working between the police, local authorities and SPS is vital to ensure that offenders do not fall between the gaps in services and that plans for managing offenders in the community are based on the best available information and experience which all agencies have in relation to each individual offender.
"The new concordat being launched today will help underpin that process by improving the way information is shared between all those involved in managing sex offenders including the Crown Office, Scottish Prison Service, Parole Board, police and local authorities.
"It is about shaping the way organisations and individuals behave, about creating a robust framework based on clear responsibilities and constructive relationships. Perhaps most of all, it is about professionals taking personal responsibility and demonstrating firm leadership to improve the protection of the public in communities across Scotland."
Solicitor General Elish Angiolini QC said:
"I believe that information sharing is perhaps the essential foundation which underpins the effective management of sex offenders. It is only through committed professionals working together that we will achieve the safer environment we all want for our families.
"The work of the Information Sharing Group has confirmed that view. Today we present a practical framework which we believe, with the support of the agencies represented, will help protect our communities, our families and most of all to our children.
"The message I want us all to take away from today is that, as we move forward to turn principle into practice, we must do so through continuing that co-operation and collaboration."
Among those who signed the National Concordat were representatives from the Risk Management Authority, Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service, the Scottish Court Service, the Parole Board for Scotland, the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, the State Hospital and the Voluntary Sector Forum.
The Expert Panel on Sex Offending, chaired by Lady Cosgrove, reported in 2001 and made 73 recommendations, spanning 6 broad thematic areas:
1. Community and personal safety and prevention
2. Risk assessment
3. Access to personal change programmes (for both children and adults)
4. Monitoring sex offenders
5. Housing provision for sex offenders
6. Information management.
A range of action is now underway to step up public protection from sex offenders. Professor George Irving has begun a review of the sex offender registration system. Last week First Minister Jack McConnell announced plans to end the automatic early release without condition of sex offenders on short sentences. And Ministers introduced the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill to Parliament on October 29, 2004. The bill includes proposals to:
- Allow chief constables to apply to the sheriff court for a Risk of Sexual Harm Order to restrict the activities of individuals suspected of being a danger to children - even if they have not been convicted of an offence.
- Allow earlier intervention to restrict the movements of convicted sex offenders. At present Sexual Offences Prevention Orders can only be made by the courts, at the request of a chief constable, if the offender's behaviour after conviction continues to present public risk. The new legislation proposes that the sentencing judge should be able to impose these orders when sentencing an offender based on the case's evidence - without the need for evidence of further behaviour post conviction and a subsequent chief constable's application.
- Strengthening the law on sexual grooming - which can already be caught under existing Scots law - by making this a specific offence.