Clause 45 - Short title, commencement and extent
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
8:15 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
In June, the Scottish Executive passed the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005, which introduce in Scotland several new offences and civil orders similar to those that the Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish legislation, applies only to Scotland and cannot amend the 2003 Act as it applies to the rest of the United Kingdom.
Without the amendments, there is a risk that those previously convicted for a sexual offence, or those whom the courts consider to pose a risk of serious sexual harm, will escape the monitoring of or prohibitions on their behaviour, which we believe they merit, simply by moving over the border.
Various offences have been introduced, including grooming children and causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography, which broadly mirror offences in the rest of the United Kingdom. We want to ensure that offenders who are subject to the requirement to notify the police that they are in Scotland—commonly known as the sex offenders register—also become subject to the notification requirements whenever they are in any other part of the United Kingdom. As I said, failure to do so could mean that people could simply avoid the notification requirements by moving over the border, and we could leave some very vulnerable people at risk.
The clause ensures that the sexual offences prevention orders and the risk of sexual harm orders can be enforced properly and effectively in England, in Wales and in Northern Ireland. The amendments set out four offences of breaching the various orders, which will ensure that people are protected from those who pose a threat of sexual harm, wherever they live in the UK. Offenders will not be able to escape the consequences of the law in Scotland, the monitoring of their behaviour or prohibition simply by moving over the border.