Sarah Champion MP responds to ban on sex offenders changing their name, after years of campaigning
On Tuesday 25th February, the Government will announce new measures to limit sex offenders from changing their names, acting on Sarah Champion’s long-term campaign to close the legal loophole.
The new reforms mean that Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) who pose a risk of using a new identity to offend, are to be banned from changing their names, unless explicitly approved by the police monitoring them.
Since 2020, Sarah Champion MP has campaigned with victims and survivors, as well as Della Wright and the Safeguarding Alliance to close the loophole that allows RSOs to change their name in order to avoid detection.
Up until now, RSOs were required to self-report to the police within three days of a name change. The Safeguarding Alliance found over 11,500 RSOs were prosecuted for failure to notify changes of information between 2019 and 2022. [1]
Data secured by the BBC demonstrated the same ongoing pattern allowed offenders to slip through the cracks, with over 700 RSOs going missing from 2019-2021.[2]
In May 2024, Sarah was successful in her campaign, with the Government accepting her amendment to the ‘Criminal Justice Bill’. However, the Bill was dropped upon the dissolution of Parliament. [3]
Since then, Sarah has been campaigning for the Labour Government to implement this change swiftly, working with the Minister for Safeguarding to ensure it was prioritised in upcoming legislation.
Commenting Sarah Champion MP said:
Since 2020, I have been trying to close the loophole that allows registered sex offenders to change their name to avoid detection. I have been proud to campaign alongside victims and survivors especially the wonderful Della Wright and the Safeguarding Alliance who first exposed this dangerous flaw.
Within days of Labour entering Government, I was back lobbying the Home Office on this preventable risk.
Whilst I welcome today’s reforms as a step in the right direction, I’m concerned that some changes still rely on sex offenders doing the right thing and notifying the authorities of changes in circumstance. Sadly, sex offenders rarely do the right thing.
The devil will be in the detail of the legislation, which I will be closely scrutinising to ensure it delivers the best possible protection for victims and survivors.
ENDS.
Notes to Editors:
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64624921
- Sarah’s spoken contribution on her RSO amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, 2023
- Sarah’s spoken contribution on Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, 2021
- Sarah’s question to the Government on RSOs in 2020