PARENTS IN Tayside will be the first in Scotland to be given new rights to know if a sex offender has access to their children.

The Tayside Police force area has been selected for a new pilot to allow the public to call for background checks on those in close contact with their children.

A Scottish Government spokesman said yesterday, “We are pleased to confirm that Tayside will be the area for the sex offender disclosure pilot.

“Our officials are liaising with all the criminal justice partners in the region as they prepare for implementation.

“The protection of the public from sex offenders is a key priority and we look forward to the pilot being initiated later this year and to the subsequent evaluation of that.”

The pilot—scheduled to run from September to May—will allow parents, carers and guardians of under-18s to register a child protection interest in a named individual with access to the child.

Police will be alerted to concerns, with a presumption that they will inform the parent, carer or guardian if the person has convictions for sex offences.

If a youngster is found to be at a serious risk of harm, child protection measures will be put into action.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Harkins said, “We are pleased that Tayside Police, along with its community and criminal justice partners, will be responsible for the pilot project.

“We have been working closely with the Scottish Government in advance of the pilot project’s implementation later this year and there is still significant work to be done in advance of this.

“Clearly good partnership working already exists in relation to the management of sex offenders in Tayside and, irrespective of the pilot project, people should always contact the authorities if they have any concerns over the safety of any child in their community.

“Tayside Police successfully piloted the implementation of fixed penalty notices on behalf of the Scottish Government and we will continue to lead where there can be developments in policing that are to the benefit of the wider community.”

At the launch of the pilot earlier this month justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said a “blanket disclosure” could force offenders underground and put children at greater risk.

He added, “We do want to consider how we can better enable individuals with a child protection concern about someone in their lives and who has contact with their child to ask the police to investigate that concern.

“While we must all rightly be alert to ‘stranger danger’, most sexual offences against children are in fact committed by individuals known to the child’s family, adults who abuse a position of trust with that child.”

He added, “The project provides another link which will assist in identifying vulnerable children and families who are unknown to police and care agencies to ensure that correct help and advice are provided.”

The pilot comes in the wake of widespread concern about sex offenders living in the community.

At any given time there are around 350 registered sex offenders in Tayside, more than 50 of them deemed high risk.