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Parents in Tayside will be entitled to know if a sex offender has access to their children under a new pilot project launched today.

Under the scheme, the first of its kind in Scotland, parents, carers or guardians will now be able to formally register their concerns and will be informed if the named individual has a conviction for sex offences against children.

If a child is found to be at risk, child protection measures will be implemented.

The move is part of new Government efforts to strengthen Scotland's approach to dealing with sex offenders.

The pilot will run until May next year and if successful, it could be rolled out right across Scotland.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said:

"There are few crimes more emotive or more damaging than sexual offences against children and we want to do everything we possibly can to ensure that convicted sex offenders do not reoffend.

"Following four expert reviews on the issue, we have already taken wide-ranging action which has strengthened our approach to dealing with sex offenders, but this Government wants to do more.

"Parents, carers and guardians will now be able to formally register their concerns, they will be informed if the named individual has a conviction for sex offences against children and they can be confident action will be taken.

"We want to give reassurance to concerned members of the public."

Tayside Police Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Bill Harkins said:

"We are pleased that Tayside Police, along with its community and criminal justice partners, will be responsible for the pilot project.

"We have been working closely with the Scottish Government in advance of the pilot project's implementation. Clearly good partnership working already exists in relation to the management of sex offenders in Tayside and, irrespective of the pilot project, people should always contact the authorities if they have any concerns over the safety of any child in their community.

"Tayside Police successfully piloted the implementation of Fixed Penalty Notices on behalf of the Scottish Government and we will continue to lead where there can be developments in policing that are to the benefit of the wider community."

Bailie Helen Wright, Convener of Tayside Community Justice Authority, said:

"In Tayside we are committed to working in partnership to increase public confidence in the criminal justice system.

"We want to ensure that public protection concerns are at the forefront of our work in managing convicted offenders who may present a risk to others.

"The pilot scheme in Tayside will operate as one part of a range of public protection initiatives in the area, where criminal justice partners work closely together to safeguard our communities. We welcome the fact that the decision to locate the pilot in Tayside acknowledges these strengths."

Martin Henry, National Manager of 'Stop It Now!', which is at the fore-front of promoting the prevention of sexual offending against children, said:

''This is an important contribution to the protection of children in families and communities across Tayside. Stop it Now!

"Scotland works in close partnership across agencies and government to educate and inform individuals, families and communities about sexual abuse and sex offending. We hope that the evaluation of the disclosure pilot will provide important information creating a real opportunity to ensure that children across Scotland are properly protected at the earliest stage by their parents together with all relevant agencies.''

Anne Houston, Chief Executive, Children 1st said:

''Members of the public are concerned that everything possible is done to ensure that convicted sex offenders do not continue to offend - and rightly so.

"CHILDREN 1ST welcomes Tayside's pilot of tightly controlled community disclosure of information relating to sexual offenders. The pilot will enable parents and carers to formally check out concerns they may have about a person with significant access to their children. We see this as potentially offering an important additional protection for children.

''Child protection is everyone's responsibility. In previous similar pilots in England people have been encouraged to exercise their responsibility to children by alerting the authorities, with a higher expectation that their concerns will be followed through. This would be a positive outcome for vulnerable children and families.''

The pilot begins on Monday September 21, 2009 and will run until May 2010.

As of September 21, 2009, callers to Tayside Police on 0300 111 2222 who have concerns about the safety of a child will be directed to a dedicated line where the information will be acted upon by specialists in the field of child protection.

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