Government plans child cruelty register to strengthen monitoring of offenders

The UK government has announced plans to introduce a new register for people convicted of child cruelty offences, placing them under similar police monitoring requirements to registered sex offenders.

Under amendments tabled to the Crime and Policing Bill, adults convicted of crimes such as child neglect, abandonment and causing serious harm to a child will face police notification requirements after their sentence. The measures are intended to improve monitoring of people who have harmed children in their care and to strengthen safeguarding arrangements.

The proposed child cruelty register would require those convicted of relevant offences to notify police of key changes in their circumstances. This could include informing authorities if they move house, change their name, travel abroad or begin living with children again following their sentence.

The register will also cover all offences related to child female genital mutilation, as well as crimes including causing or allowing the death or serious physical harm of a child and infanticide.

According to the government, the changes aim to reduce the risk of reoffending and provide greater protection for children by improving police oversight of individuals who have committed serious offences against children.

The announcement follows campaigning by families and child protection advocates, including Paula Hudgell, the adoptive mother of Tony Hudgell. Tony became a double amputee after suffering severe neglect and abuse by his birth parents.

Jess Phillips, MP, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said: “It is unforgivable that someone who is supposed to take care of a child would hurt them instead.

“We’ve listened to the Hudgells, and to the many families who feel the system hasn’t done enough to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, and we are taking vital action.

“Whether it be online, on the streets, in schools, or from their own caregivers – children are being kept safer under this government.”

Alongside the new register, the government has announced a number of additional non-legislative measures aimed at strengthening child protection. These include promoting the use of civil orders, strengthening oversight through Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), and improving the consistency with which high-risk cases are identified.

The government also plans to place the child sex offender disclosure scheme on a statutory footing.

Ministers said that together, the register and wider reforms are intended to give police and safeguarding partners greater visibility of individuals who have harmed children and to help prevent further abuse.

The measures sit alongside a number of broader reforms the government says are aimed at improving child protection. These include proposals in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, such as introducing a unique child identifier, establishing multi-agency child protection teams and expanding information-sharing powers.

Further planned measures include strengthening child sex offender disclosure arrangements, establishing a new Child Protection Agency and introducing mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

Sentencing Minister Jake Richards MP said: “Child abusers do not deserve shielding; children do. The Child Cruelty Register will ensure these offenders are visible to the police, allowing authorities to see and act when risks arise.

“I thank Paula Hudgell for her remarkable fight to ensure no child should go through the life-altering abuse that her son Tony did.”