4.7 Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme

 1. Introduction

The aim of the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme is to provide parents, guardians, and carers with information that will enable them to better safeguard their children’s safety and welfare. It introduced the principle of a two-way disclosure by enabling the public to ask about the history of a person who has access to their child. It enables limited public access to information about registered sex offenders.

 2. ‘Right to Ask’

Under the Scheme, there is a ‘right to ask’ for information, whereby a person can make an application to the police for information about a person (subject) who has some form of contact with a named child or children. This could include any third party, such as a grandparent, neighbour, or friend; it does not need to be a relative of the child.

‘Contact’ means the person has enough access to a specific child to pose a real risk of harm. For example:

• they live with the child;
• they work in the child’s household;
• they talk to the child online or over the phone;
• they could meet the child unsupervised through access to shared common areas, like gardens or corridors, or through a relationship with the child’s family.

In the event that a subject has convictions for sexual offences against children, poses a risk of causing harm to the child concerned, and disclosure is necessary to protect the child and is a proportionate response to manage that risk, there is a presumption that this information will be disclosed. However, any disclosure under the Scheme will only be made to the person best placed to protect the child. This may not be the individual that made the application.

Each request for information will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and, while there may not be information that can be disclosed in accordance with the Scheme, disclosure of other relevant information may still be possible

 3. Application Process

3.1 How to ask for a police check

You can:

• call 101;
• go to your local police station;
• contact Thames Valley Police using an online form.

When you ask for a check, you’ll need to:

• tell the police your name and contact details (you cannot apply anonymously);
• say why you want to have the person checked;
• explain what your relationship to the child is.

3.2 How long it takes

It can take up to 28 days for the police to finish a check. If the child is in immediate danger, then the police will act right away before the check is finished.

3.2.1 What you need to do after asking for the check

In the first 24 hours after you ask for a check, the police will work with you to find a safe way to keep in touch.

Within 10 days of asking for a check, you’ll need to attend a meeting or have a call with the police to:

• show proof of your identity and address, such as a passport, a driving licence, a household utility bill or a bank statement;
• show proof of your relationship to the child, such as a birth certificate or a personal child health record (red book);
• allow the police to find out more details.

If the police cannot confirm your identity, you cannot be told the results of the check. The police will still act to keep the child safe.

3.3 Who will be told about the check

If the police have found any relevant information, they’ll decide who needs to be told. This might not be you.

It will usually be the people best placed to protect the child, such as the child’s parent, guardian or carer.

The police will normally tell the person who was checked that they’re sharing this information, if they decide it’s safe to do that. This might include telling the person that you asked for the check. The police will talk to you when making this decision.

3.4 If the police want to share information with you

The police will only share information with you if you sign an agreement promising not to tell anyone else.

If you think there are other people who should be told, ask the police about this.

4. ‘Right to Know’

In addition to the ‘right to ask’ (where an applicant contacts the police to ask for information), there is also a ‘right to know’.  The “Right to Know” is where the police receive indirect information that may impact the safety of children and have not received a request for information through the ‘Right to Ask’ process. This could include (but is not limited to):

1. information becoming known to the police about a relationship involving a child sex offender and a person who has responsibility for a child or children;
2. information obtained during an investigation into other matters that identifies a need for a person to receive information about someone who may pose a risk to a child;
3. information received that suggests impending contact between a named child and a person who poses a risk to them.

The purpose of the ‘Right to Know’ is to allow the police to act proactively when they are in receipt of information about a risk to a child or children,  when it is already known that disclosure is necessary and proportionate.

The ‘Right to Know’ is also known as Sarah’s law or Child Sexual Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSODS).