Tomorrow, I am introducing my 'Sexual Offences (Prohibition of Name Change) Bill' to the House of Commons to amend the law regarding sex offenders changing their names for safeguarding purposes - drawing attention to an egregious loophole that is putting people at risk as we speak. I was shocked to learn that we have a system where sex offenders – people who have already lost society’s trust – are the ones responsible for maintaining the register.
Currently sex offenders are able to change their name by deed poll, and in a bizarre loophole, the offender is the one responsible for notifying the authorities of the change. This renders both the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (otherwise known as ‘Sarah’s Law’) and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (otherwise known as ‘Claire’s Law’) redundant. Thanks to research carried out by the Safeguarding Alliance, it has become clear that thousands of offenders are being lost from the system, posing a risk to victims and the vulnerable.
I met with the Safeguarding Alliance and am working with them and other campaigners to bring about legislation aimed at closing the loophole and ensuring there is a joined-up approach between relevant agencies. This issue has cross-party attention with Member of Parliament for Rotherham Sarah Champion leading a backbench business debate the next day ( Thursday 2nd March).
Having met with the victims of sexual and violent crime as the Member of Parliament for Bolsover, I became aware of the serious failure of the law and decided to campaign to bring about change. The Sexual Offences (Prohibition of Name Change) Bill brought in by the Ten Minute Rule on Wednesday the 1st of March, argues for a ban of the automatic right of sex offenders to change their name, ending the ability to simply opt-out of the sex offender register system.
