Police failing to use Sarah's Law, say NSPCC

But children may be at risk of harm from sexual predators as very few police forces are making full use of the law, the NSPCC has warned.

Figures show that since it began in April 2011, just one in six applications for information has been successful.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said people face a 'postcode lottery when it comes to how forces deal with Sarah's Law'.

However, the figures were today described as 'potentially misleading' by police bosses.

The landmark initiative, known formally as the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, was introduced following the death of eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who died at the hands of previous sex offender Roy Whiting.

It allows parents to ask police if someone they are concerned about – and who has contact with their child – is a registered sex offender.

A Freedom of Information request by the NSPCC to police forces in England and Wales found that from 2011 to 2014, just 877 out of 5,357 applications resulted in disclosures being made.

West Midlands Police received 85 applications, however there was no information supplied on how many of these resulted in successful disclosures.

Staffordshire Police gave out information in seven per cent of applications – eight of the 107 received.

And West Mercia Police gave information in 26 of the 124 applications – 21 per cent.

Mr Wanless said: "Families need to know if there are individuals in their area who pose a risk to children.

"How can you expect parents to make the right choices in order to protect their children if they don't know who is a threat?

"The police need to be proactive in empowering communities to protect vulnerable children. The wide variation in disclosure numbers doesn't breed confidence that the scheme is being understood or applied consistently and that is a concern.

"While there may be very good reasons for not disclosing information held to applicants, some forces seem to be too cautious which could put children at serious risk of harm. We need to see regular independent evaluation of this vital law to make sure it's working as it should."

But police have said the figures are misleading as they do not properly explain how the system works. The National Police Chiefs' Council lead on child protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey said: "The release of these figures, however, is unhelpful and potentially misleading.

"Forces were asked to provide figures for the number of applications made for Child Sexual Offender Disclosures under 'Sarah's Law' and, in addition, the number of occasions on which information about someone who posed a risk to children was provided.

"It follows that where an application was made but no information on that person existed, that would not be logged as an occasion where information about someone who posed a risk to children was provided to the applicant. The reason for this being quite simply that there was no information to disclose."

West Mercia Police agreed that the figures did not give a clear picture.

A spokesperson said: "The figures provided by the NSPCC are misleading as it does not property explain how this system works.

"In the majority of occasions, information isn't disclosed simply because there is no information to disclose, no information exists on that person or because there is no risk to children.

"We are pleased that we have been able to provide information to protect children on a number of occasions, but it is important to understand that there are a number of other reasons why information cannot be disclosed."

Det Ch Insp Jav Oomer, from Staffordshire Police, said: "All requests for information under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure scheme are carefully considered by specialist trained officers and relevant partner agencies to ensure they are genuine, and the disclosure of information will protect children from harm.

"The framework we follow for disclosure is a national framework and the force has a policy which mirrors national guidance. We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable people in our communities."