30 January 2024 , 12:58
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Tens of thousands of registered sex offenders live in England and Wales, according to the latest data.
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice show there are 68,357 in the England and Wales police force area at the end of March 2023. The number means there is the equivalent of one sex offender for every 769 people aged 10 and over. Compared to March 2022, the number of sex offenders in England and Wales has risen by 2%, up from 66,741.
It has also risen by 85% over the past 12 years, since the police force level figures were first published at the end of 2010/11. At the time there were 36,921 registered sex offenders living here. This year's figure is a record high.
The figures released cover offenders managed by Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) aimed at preventing further offences. Sex offenders are required to notify the police of certain details, with further notification required if any of those details change. Some MAPPA areas are home to three times as many sex offenders relative to the local population than others.
There were a total of 1,116 registered sex offenders living in the Teesside MAPPA area, which is the same as the Cleveland Police force area. That works out as one for every 450 people aged 10 and over.
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No other area in England and Wales has a higher concentration of registered sex offenders relative to the local population. Lancashire is next with its 2,964 offenders working out as one for every 459 people over 10.
In County Durham there is an average of one registered sex offender for every 562 people, while in Humberside it’s one for every 588 people, and in North Wales there’s one for every 602 people.
At the other end of the scale, there are 816 registered sex offenders in Hertfordshire. That works out as one for every 1,299 people aged over 10. That’s almost three times as many people per sex offender as in Teesside.
In Surrey there’s an average of one offender for every 1,250 people. In London the ratio is one for every 1,124 people, while in Bedfordshire it’s one in every 1,087, and in Thames Valley it’s one in every 1,064.
Where offenders are registered in the UK
- Teesside: 450
- Lancashire: 459
- County Durham: 562
- Humberside: 588
- North Wales: 602
- Greater Manchester: 610
- Merseyside: 625
- Northumbria: 629
- Gwent: 633
- West Yorkshire: 649
- South Wales: 658
- South Yorkshire: 676
- Cheshire: 690
- West Midlands: 694
- Norfolk: 699
- Nottinghamshire: 714
- Cumbria: 719
- West Mercia: 725
- Suffolk: 730
- Derbyshire: 735
- Hampshire: 758
- Sussex: 758
- Staffordshire: 769
- Northamptonshire: 769
- Dyfed-Powys: 775
- Lincolnshire: 781
- North Yorkshire: 787
- Devon and Cornwall: 794
- Cambridgeshire: 806
- Dorset: 826
- Kent: 840
- Warwickshire: 855
- Wiltshire: 870
- Gloucestershire: 870
- Avon and Somerset: 877
- Leicestershire: 885
- Essex: 893
- Thames Valley: 1064
- Bedfordshire: 1087
- London: 1124
- Surrey: 1250
- Hertfordshire: 1299