PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Sexual Offences: Reoffenders (14 July 2014)

Public protection is our top priority and is at the heart of our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. We are clear that management of the offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm should remain with the public sector. The new National Probation Service is responsible for the direct management of those offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm to the public and who have committed the most serious offences. This includes sex offenders and Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) cases. Offenders who are deemed to pose a medium and low risk are being managed by a Community Rehabilitation Company.

Every offender will be risk assessed prior to allocation to any probation provider and also upon leaving prison; this will be reviewed when there are indicators that their risk of serious harm to the public has increased to high.

The Ministry of Justice publishes proven re-offending rates for adult and juvenile offenders on a quarterly basis. However, these rates cannot be provided for those offenders classified as very high risk or high risk as the information held centrally does not currently hold an assessment of risk. Assessments of risk are held locally by the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies.