Jo Stevens – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Stevens on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33485, in what capacity those polygraph examinations have been conducted; and for what reasons polygraph examinations have been so used to examine sex offender behaviour.

Andrew Selous

The legal basis for the polygraph scheme is in the Offender Management Act 2007. Sections 28 to 30 enable a polygraph licence condition to be added to the release licence of certain sex offenders. In January 2014, following a successful pilot, the condition was introduced nationally.

Polygraph testing has proven to be a valuable additional tool for National Probation Service offender managers in the management of certain sex offenders in the community. It increases the chance that those sexual offenders will make critically significant disclosures relevant to their management, supervision, or risk assessment. Furthermore, it has increased the likelihood of preventative actions being taken by offender managers to protect the public from harm, such as warnings and recall to custody.