Written question asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 June 2007. It was answered by Joan Ryan (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 June 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Sexual Offences

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure that there are adequate checks in place on sex offenders coming into the UK from the European Union.

Answer: The United Kingdom is actively involved in negotiations in the European Union to improve information sharing on sex offenders.Last November, we established a formal arrangement with the Republic of Ireland which means that information on sex offenders travelling between the two countries is exchanged between UK and Irish police. This arrangement is the first of its kind and we hope it will be used as an example to encourage similar arrangements with other countries.The UK has also played an active role in progressing work on the EU draft framework decision on the mutual recognition of disqualifications imposed on sex offenders. This work is still ongoing. Negotiations are also under way on a framework decision to allow for quicker and better exchange of information on criminal convictions, including disqualifications arising from convictions.Arriving passengers are also routinely checked against the immigration watch list and the Police National Computer (PNC) database as necessary.

Secondary information