DOZENS of requests for information under Sarah’s Law have led to disclosures about sexual offences being made public.

The Child Sex Offender’s Disclosure Scheme was piloted in 2008 by the Home Office to allow parents, guardians or any third party to find out if there is information they need to know to protect children in their care.

The scheme is also known as Sarah’s Law, as it was introduced following the murder of Sarah Payne, pictured,– who was killed by a convicted paedophile in July 2000 – and was brought into effect in North Yorkshire in August 2010.

In the scheme’s first year in the region, there were 88 applications, 51 of which were granted and 37 were refused. In 2012, 21 out of 45 applications were granted, and last year 13 out of 23 applications were granted.

This year to date, 28 applications have been received – six have been granted, ten did not fit the criteria, and 12 are still ongoing.

Of the 184 applications submitted, a total of 81 were refused by the force, as they did not meet the requirements for the release of information, and a dozen are still under consideration.

So far, 91 of the requests have resulted in disclosures of sexual offences being made available to the public.

A request made under the Freedom of Information Act showed the requests to North Yorkshire Police have come from York, Selby, Harrogate, Scarborough, Wetherby, Goole, Tadcaster, Malton and Ripon.

However a number of the requests have come from far outside North Yorkshire Police area, with applications made by people in Newcastle, Stockton on Tees, Kent, Gloucestershire, Hawes, Leeds, Edinburgh, Leicestershire, Lancashire, Durham, Whitby and Stokesley. Humberside Police have dealt with 204 applications for information under Sarah’s Law since it was launched, with 53 from the East Riding, 56 from Hull, 38 from North East Lincolnshire, 45 from North Lincolnshire, and 12 from outside the force.

Information on how many had led to disclosure of sexual offences was not available. Full details of how to request an application under Sarah’s Law are available at northyorkshire.police.uk