Suella Braverman will announce today a lifetime ban on sex offenders changing their name and gender in an attempt to close a loophole that is allowing criminals to evade the sex offence register.
Details from other government agencies including HMRC, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) HM Passport Office and the DVLA will be merged with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Any change in a known sex offender’s details on any of those government agencies will alert the DBS and they will face prosecution, government sources told The Times.
The home secretary will use her speech at the Conservative party conference in Manchester to announce new legislation to introduce an outright ban on anyone convicted of a sex-related crime changing their identity, making it a new offence.
Currently, all registered sex offenders are required to notify their local police force within three days of changing their name. Failure to do so is a criminal offence but the onus is placed entirely on the offender to comply with the law.
Thousands of offenders are changing their name without notifying the police every year. Between January 2019 and June 2022, there were almost 12,000 prosecutions against people on the sex offence register who failed to alert authorities about a change in their personal information.
The Times has previously revealed examples of convicted child sex abusers changing their name by deed poll, failing to inform the authorities and using their new identity to gain access to children.
In the most serious cases, men barred for life from working with children used their new name to gain employment in schools and homes where they committed multiple further offences.
However, there are several potential loopholes that could be exploited under the ban, which the Home Office is attempting to address before introducing the legislation.
Sex offenders could potentially still evade detection if they completely abandoned all of their existing accounts with government agencies and did not attempt to update their details.
Government sources said they were working with organisations such as HMRC and DWP on measures that could potentially detect suspicious individuals who register with government agencies that have no previous record of them.
There are also legal hurdles that may still allow sex offenders to exploit loopholes.
There are concerns that any outright ban on changing their personal details would not be enforceable if an individual claims they are doing so on the basis of changing their gender or for religious purposes. Both reasons would be protected by the Equalities Act, government sources said.
The Safeguarding Alliance has led the campaign for the ban, dubbed “Della’s Law” after Della Wright, a survivor of child sex abuse who waived her right to anonymity to share her story of how a known sex offender lived in her home as a primary carer when she was seven.
Emily Konstantas, chief executive of the Safeguarding Alliance, described the announcement as a monumental victory for group and Della’s Law. “No longer will the rights of a sex offender be given priority over the protection of societies most vulnerable.” she said.
“This change could not have come quick enough and is the biggest change to safeguarding legislation to date. We would like to thank everyone who has supported the Safeguarding Alliance and Della’s Law over the years.”
The campaign for an outright ban has had cross-party support.
Mark Fletcher, a Conservative MP who has campaigned for a ban, has said offenders are exploiting the current loopholes in various different ways.
While some simply change their names after conviction, there have been instances where offenders change their name before a trial and then change them back again after their conviction in order to avoid the sex offenders’ register and keep their original identity.
Sarah Champion, a Labour MP, called for a marker to be placed on the DVLA and HM Passport Office records of all registered sex offenders, which would raise an alert whenever an application for a name change comes through.
Separately, Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, will announce changes to the law that will take parental rights away from a parent who has been found guilty of murdering the other parent.
In his own speech at the Tory party conference, Chalk will outline plans to introduce “Jade’s Law” before Parliament by the end of the year.
The measures are named after Jade Ward, who was stabbed and strangled by her partner Russell Marsh.
Despite currently serving at least 25 years in prison for her murder, Marsh still retains parental rights and Jade’s parents have been campaigning for that to change.
The new rules, set to be introduced as part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, will create an automatic suspension of parental responsibility from a person who is convicted of the murder or voluntary manslaughter of a person with whom they share parental responsibility.
Chalk is also expected to announce the legal expectation placed on judges to hand down whole-life orders will apply retrospectively to those who have already committed the crime but are yet to be sentenced.
