Home Office: Police Will Be Able to Block Child Sex Offenders From Changing Their Names

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly speaking during a press conference at Carlton Gardens in London on June 20, 2023. Leon Neal/PA

The police have been given greater powers to stop registered sex offenders from changing their name, under plans brought forward by the Home Office.

Police will be able to block sex offenders from changing or attempting to change their name on official documents such as passports and driving licences without the approval of the authorities.

Any person is entitled to change his or her name at will if it is not done for any deceptive or fraudulent purpose. Offenders can change their name by deed poll but must notify the police within three days.

Tougher measures, announced by the Home Office, are meant to tackle repeated criminal behaviour by offenders.

“There is no excuse for turning a blind eye to a child’s pain,” Home Secretary James Cleverly said.

Mr. Cleverly added that “equipping the police with more powers” will prevent “those who have committed abhorrent sexual crimes in the past from evading the police by changing their name.”

The policy, which will be introduced in the Criminal Justice Bill, doesn’t go as far as banning sex offenders from ever altering their name or gender. This was a measure championed by the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman last year.

British lawmakers have raised concerns in the past about sex offenders are ignoring the current statutory requirement to notify the police.

According to Safeguarding Alliance the name change process in the UK is “too simple, inexpensive and unregulated,” with legal loopholes allowing sex offenders to “go under the radar of all authorities.”

New restrictions will enable the police to manage the risk posed by offenders more effectively, said the National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for the Management of Violent and Sexual Offenders, Jonny Blackwell.

Reporting Child Sexual Abuse

Other measures introduced by the government include a legal requirement to report child sexual abuse. This applies to anyone in regulated activity relating to children in England, including teachers or healthcare professionals.

Failure to report will result in people being barred from working with young people.

The Home Office also said that anyone actively protecting child sexual abusers could go to prison for seven years.

The measure was welcomed by the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC).

NAPAC chief executive Gabrielle Shaw, called it a “big step in the right direction,” adding that the policy will require investment and effective tracking.

The legal requirement to report child sexual abuse addresses the recommendation in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report.

The IICSA was established in 2015 to investigate the extent to which state and non-state institutions across England and Wales have failed in their duty of care to protect and safeguard children from sexual exploitation and abuse.

“By bringing into force a mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse—the inquiry’s principal recommendation—we are sending a clear message that children will never be let down whether in schools, sports settings or any supervised environment,” said Minister for Victims and Safeguarding Laura Farris, who worked on the Inquiry before coming into politics.

The government also announced an investment of £8.4 million this year to tackle organised child exploitation.

As of March 31, 2019, there were approximately 60,000 registered sex offenders in England and Wales, according to data by HM Inspectorate of Probation.

Last year, the National Crime Agency said there could be as many as 830,000 of people in the UK, who pose various degrees of sexual risk to children. This is equivalent to 1.6 percent of the UK adult population.

One in ten children experience child sexual abuse before the age of 16, the NCA reported.

The IICSA has estimated that sexual abuse occurs to one in six girls and one in twenty boys.