Sex offenders to be banned from changing their name after Rotherham MP Sarah Champion secures law change

The Government are set to ban sex offenders from changing their names to avoid detection, after a Rotherham MP drew attention to the issue.

In a Parliamentary debate yesterday (Tuesday, November 28, 2023), the Home Secretary James Cleverly announced: "The Government will also bring forward amendments to the bill to restrict the ability of registered sex offenders to change their names in certain circumstances."

This comes three years after Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, began urging the Government to address what she terms as a 'significant safeguarding loophole,' which allows offenders to change their identity without the knowledge of the police, disappear under the radar and, in some cases, secure a clean DBS check under their new name.

A spokesperson for Ms Champion said: "Although it is illegal for registered sex offenders to change their personal details without informing the police within three days, currently the onus remains on the offender to tell the police if there is a change in their information and many simply don't do it."

Ms Champion added: "After years of campaigning, I’m delighted the Government have finally accepted my law change to stop registered sex offenders changing their names to avoid detection.

"This is a huge safeguarding loophole, which currently undermines DBS checks and Clare’s Law, which allows women to check if their partner has a history of abuse.

 "I wish the Government had acted sooner, but the new law will be a massive step forward in protecting the public from known offenders.

 "I pay tribute to survivors and charities who have campaigned hard to make this day a reality and I give my assurance that I will work with the Government to make sure this can work in practise."

Ms Champion has repeatedly raised the issue with numerous ministers and uncovered the concerning scale of the problem.

The Home Office confirmed, in response to Sarah’s written parliamentary question, that over 16,000 offenders were charged with a breach of their notification requirements between 2015 and 2020. The Safeguarding Alliance found over 11,500 registered sex offenders were prosecuted for failure to notify changes of information between 2019 and 2022.

Data secured by the BBC demonstrated the same ongoing pattern allowing offenders to slip through the cracks. Over 700 registered sex offenders have gone missing within the last three years. It’s highly likely they breached their notifications requirements without getting caught, making them an active risk to the public.