Governance, oversight and policy development relating to sex offender management: FOI release

Information requested

1. Registered Sex Offenders in South Ayrshire

• The number of individuals currently on the Sex Offenders Register who are managed within the South Ayrshire area.
• Where available, please provide a breakdown indicating how many are first-time offenders and how many have previous convictions for sexual offences.

2. Community Management and Supervision

• The number of registered sex offenders in South Ayrshire who are:
  • a) Living in the community under statutory supervision or licence conditions; and
  • b) Currently in custody.
• Please include any policies or guidance used to determine where offenders may reside following release.

3. Reoffending and Public Protection

• Any recorded data, analysis, or statistics on reoffending rates among registered sex offenders managed in South Ayrshire since 2022.
• Any information held on breaches of licence conditions or MAPPA recalls within that period.

4. Governance and Oversight

• The name, remit, membership, and most recent meeting minutes (since January 2024) of any Scottish Government group, board, or working group responsible for the governance, oversight, or policy development relating to:
  • Sex offender management,
  • MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements), or
  • The reintegration of registered sex offenders into the community.
• Please also provide copies of any associated risk registers held by these groups.

Response

1. Registered Sex Offenders in South Ayrshire

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. You may find it helpful to visit the Police Scotland website where, on a monthly basis, they publish data regarding the number of Registered Sex Offenders in our communities, broken down by policing division and postcode area. Annually, each MAPPA region publishes a report where they include local area statistics. I attach the 2025 report for SouthWest Scotland. Although the report does not provide a breakdown for each local authority, it provides aggregated statistics for Dumfries and Galloway, South Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire, which you may find helpful.
MAPPA_Annual_Report_2025.pdf

2. Community Management and Supervision

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

I attach a copy of the National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in Scotland (NASSO) which sets out SG’s strategy for the housing of sex offenders and associated risk assessment.

National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders in Scotland - gov.scot

3. Reoffending and Public Protection

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

4. Governance and Oversight

I enclose a copy of most of the information you have requested.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exemptions under sections 29(1)(a) (formulation/ development of government policy), 30(b)(i) (free and frank provision of advice), 30(b)(ii) (substantial inhibition to free and frank exchange of views) and 38(1)(b) (third party personal data) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions apply are explained below.

Exemptions under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA apply to some of the information you have requested due to the information showing development of government policy in the early stages, where options are identified and considered, risks are identified, consultation takes place and recommendations and submissions are presented to Scottish Ministers. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release due to our desire to be an open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring that policy can be developed in a well informed and considered way. This enables Ministers and officials to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously in order to fully understand their possible implications.

An exemption under section 30(b)(i) of FOISA (free and frank provision of advice) applies to some of the information requested. This exemption applies because disclosure would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption recognises the need for officials to have a private space within which to provide free and frank advice to Ministers and other officials before the Scottish Government reaches a settled public view.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide full and frank advice to Ministers and other officials. This private thinking space is essential to enable all options to be properly considered, based on the best available advice, so that good policy decisions can be taken. Premature disclosure is likely to undermine the full and frank discussion of issues.

Exemptions under section 30(b)(ii) of FOISE applies to some of the information you have requested due to the information potentially inhibiting the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation. This exemption is also subject to the 'public interest test'. As before, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. Again, we have found that, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption to enable frank discussions with stakeholders in order to ensure that decision making is well informed.

Exemptions under section 38(1)(b) of FOISE applies to most of the information you have requested due to the information containing personal data of individuals and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500493143 - Information released - Annex

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