FAQs

Below is a list of frequently asked question that you may find useful.

Could my children be taken away from me?

Children are only ever removed from their families in rare circumstances where they face a risk of serious harm if they remain in that environment.

This is a process to help parents, carers, and guardians better safeguard their children. Children will not be taken away from the family home if the parent, carer or guardian works with the police, children's social care and other partner agencies to safeguard their child against any risk identified.

Will the police investigate more fully if there is more than one report about the same person?

The police investigate every enquiry fully. If more than one person reports an individual, the investigation checks will be duplicated.

They will always consider whether Safeguarding Children measures are appropriate.

Part of the service is taking full details from every individual requesting that the police check someone out. This will help the police detect any malicious use of the system.

Will the person I am asking about know they are being investigated?

No, unless they are found to have a record for child sexual offences or offences relevant to safeguarding children. In such cases the police will decide the best way to proceed to protect you and your children. This may involve the police working with the person to encourage disclosure.

Will the person I am asking about know I started the investigation?

No, your confidentiality will be maintained unless it is decided that a disclosure should be made. In this case, the offender may be informed that you are to receive information about them, but this will depend on the circumstances.

Will the person investigated have any sort of record just because I've asked about them?

The police will keep a record of the enquiry in order to help with the evaluation of how successful the service has been and also for policing purposes. This is NOT a criminal record of any kind but it will allow police to identify any safeguarding children concerns if a pattern develops in relation to a particular person.

How are Registered Child Sexual Offenders usually managed?

Across the country, the police, probation and prison services work with partner agencies to keep track of registered child sexual offenders. This process is called Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

MAPPA is responsible for managing registered sexual offenders, including child sexual offenders, during the course of the time which they need to report to the services, as well as violent offenders and other dangerous offenders.

Information from a MAPPA meeting might be given to another person or a group of people in order to protect them from the offender, or for them to protect others. This is called disclosure.

For example, leisure staff might be alerted where a local offender is felt to pose a risk to those using the centre.

The difference with this service is that it provides a more formal way for a parent, carer or guardian to ask for information about a person who has contact with their children, and for police to deal with this request. It may alert them that an offender may be having contact with a child or may be showing other worrying behaviour of which they had previously been unaware.