Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the reoffending rate was for sex offenders whose original conviction was for sexual offences against children in the most recent period for which figures are available.

The one year proven re-offending rate for offenders convicted of sexual offences against children for the 2012 period (the latest data available) was 8.5%.

A proven re-offence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has established a Sex Offender Management Board to coordinate the better management of sex offenders across the system, including the provision of treatment programmes in custody.

All high risk sex offenders and Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) cases will be managed by the public sector National Probation Service (NPS).