Sex Offenders Will Be Blocked From Changing Their Name With New Law

A new restriction on sex offenders legally changing their names is set to become law after years of campaigning by survivors groups, with the Labour MP who proposed it crediting the benefits of cross-party cooperation.

An amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill put forward by Labour MP Sarah Champion to prevent sexual offenders changing their name has been officially accepted by the government. 

The new clause will give the police powers to stop registered sex offenders from changing their names on documents such as passports and driving licences. Sex offenders will therefore have to seek police approval to change their names, which will only be granted under "several exemptions" such as marriage or religious conversion. Police will be able to "exercise their discretion to override them where they consider that the imperative to protect the public from sexual harm requires it" and people who breach this law could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The Criminal Justice Bill was introduced in last year's King's Speech, proposing a raft of measures including compelling defendants to attend their sentencing hearing, putting a duty on organisations to report child sexual abuse concerns, criminalising the sharing of intimate images, expanding drug testing on arrest, and giving the police greater powers and data access to tackle crime. 

Campaigners have been pushing for the law change to prevent sex offenders effectively "disappearing" or reoffending after changing their identities. 

Champion told PoliticsHome she was "amazed" that the government had decided to go through with it in this Parliament, but praised the ministers who had helped to get it though, including Prisons Minister Edward Agar and Victims Minister Laura