Conservatives to close loophole with Child Cruelty Register

Tomorrow [Thursday 19^th February 2026], the Conservatives will announce an amendment to introduce a Child Cruelty Register, closing a dangerous gap in the justice system that currently allows serious child abuse offenders to fall out of formal oversight once their sentence ends.

At present, there is no central system to track offenders who have served time in prison for physical or emotional cruelty towards children, leaving children at significant risk. Offenders may be released early but are only monitored until the formal end of their sentence, after that point, there is no oversight at all.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 16.5 per cent of adults in England and Wales report having suffered physical abuse in childhood, 22.7 per cent emotional abuse, and 29 per cent some form of abuse. Child abuse, very sadly, is widespread, and its consequences endure.

Under current law, individuals convicted of specified sexual offences are subject to strict, ongoing notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Those placed on the Sex Offenders Register must notify police of changes to their name, address, travel plans and contact with children. In addition, such offenders may be managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), where police, probation and prison services share intelligence and coordinate supervision to protect the public. In 2024, the Conservative Government legislated through the Victims and Prisoners Act to expand eligibility for MAPPA so that certain serious child cruelty offenders could qualify for multi-agency management, even where the offence was not sexual.

The Conservatives have tabled a new amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to establish a Child Cruelty Register, applying that same principle of ongoing oversight to the most serious non-sexual child cruelty offences. Offenders who have served their sentences would be required to notify police of key personal details, enabling continued monitoring and risk management beyond their sentence. Breach of these notification requirements would constitute a criminal offence.

This change has been championed by Helen Grant MP, Shadow Solicitor General, following the case of her constituent, Tony Hudgell. As a baby, Tony suffered life-changing injuries from horrific abuse as a baby, which resulted in the amputation of both his legs. Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, has campaigned tirelessly for this reform to make sure those who commit such crimes cannot simply disappear from the system.

Previously, Labour voted against the Conservative amendment to establish a Child Cruelty Register, therefore, delaying its implementation. During debate on the Sentencing Bill in October 2025, the Government acknowledged that “a problem in the system has been identified” and accepted that it “cannot be right” for horrific child abusers to have access to children without monitoring after their sentences end.

The next Conservative's Policing Plan, supported by the £47 billion Savings Plan and £800 million a year in dedicated funding, has set out a clear framework to protect the public. We will:

• Recruit 10,000 extra police officers as part of a major crackdown on violent and sexual crime.
• Mandate intensive hotspot patrolling of the 2,000 highest-crime neighbourhoods.
• Launch a statutory, judge-led grooming gangs inquiry with the power to hold officials properly accountable.
• Triple stop and search to get knives and weapons off the streets.
• Give the Home Secretary the power to set binding operational priorities across all police forces.

The Child Cruelty Register recognises that risk does not end at the prison gate, and neither should oversight. A Child Cruelty Register is essential to closing this glaring gap in our justice system.

Nick Timothy MP, Shadow Justice Secretary, said:

“A serious justice system cannot allow people convicted of brutal child cruelty to disappear, potentially able to repeat their crimes against other children unchecked.

“Protecting the most vulnerable must come first, and the Conservatives' amendment would do exactly that.

“It is a vital safeguard to make sure those who pose an ongoing risk to children remain seen by the authorities forever.”

Helen Grant MP, Shadow Solicitor General, said:

“For child cruelty offenders who have completed their sentences, there is currently no management, no monitoring, no reporting requirements – such as changes of name or new relationships – and their case details are archived. This leaves a terrible gap in the system.

“That is why we are calling for a Child Cruelty Register because every child deserves to grow up safe from fear and abuse.”

Alicia Kearns MP, Shadow Safeguarding Minister, said:

“I cannot imagine the horror of discovering someone I had trusted to be part of my child's life had been convicted of child cruelty, yet that is the reality for too many.

“Right now, those guilty of child cruelty can change their name, move county, and simply disappear once their sentence ends. That cannot be right.

“We track sex offenders because the risk doesn't end at the prison gate, the same must apply to those cowards convicted of child cruelty. A Child Cruelty Register will keep dangerous individuals visible to police and puts children's safety first.”

ENDS 

Notes to Editors:

Those convicted of specified sexual offences are subject to ongoing management by probation after release for public protection:

• When a person is convicted of specified sexual offences, they are monitored after their sentence ends through the Sex Offenders Register. A person convicted of sexual offences, such as rape or child sex offences, will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register and subject to notification requirements, such as informing probation if they are changing their name, address, or will have contact with children (Sexual Offences Act, Part 2, link).

• In 2024, the Conservative Government legislated to ensure that those convicted of serious child cruelty offences could qualify for Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). MAPPA is a process through which the Police, Probation and Prison services work together with other agencies to assess and manage the risks posed by individuals convicted of serious offences who are living in the community, to protect the public. All those under MAPPA management have their convictions and other relevant details recorded on a Violence and Sexual Offenders Register. However, for those who do not qualify for the Sex Offenders Register, ongoing management will cease once an offenders' period of release on license has ended (Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, Schedule 2, link).

But there is no ongoing management of offenders convicted of child abuse and cruelty if the offence is not sexual, leaving a gap in the law that means children are vulnerable to these offenders:

• There is no ongoing offender management when a person is convicted of serious child cruelty or abuse, provided that abuse is not sexual. The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme allows the police to release information about a previous history of violence and abuse that a person has, and under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme the police can tell parents, carers and guardians if someone has a record for child sexual offences. However, neither of these schemes provides ongoing active management of those convicted of child abuse offences (Police.uk, Request information under Clare's Law, accessed 13 February 2026, link; Home Office, Guidance: child offender disclosure scheme: police guidance, 3 April 2023, link).

• One in six adults in England and Wales reported that they were physically abused as a child. According to Office for National Statistics data, of the adult population in England and Wales, 16.5 per cent suffered physical abuse, 22.7 per cent suffered emotional abuse and 29 per cent suffered from abuse (ONS, Abuse during childhood in England and Wales, 5 November 2025, link).

• The government voted against our plan for a Child Cruelty Register, delaying its introduction.The government voted against Conservative proposals for a Child Cruelty Register with the Minister stating: ‘A problem in the system has been identified, and we are determined to fix it. It simply cannot be right that some horrific child abusers can have access to children—to live with children or work with children—at the end of their sentences without any system of monitoring or notification after those sentences. The Government cannot support the change today because work needs to be done to understand the demand that different options would place upon different public services. It would be wrong to legislate now without a fuller—or even basic—understanding of whether we have the capacity to safely deliver the register proposed in new clause 20' (Hansard, Sentencing Bill, 29 October 2025, link).

This means that Tony Hudgell's abusers will not be subject to ongoing management when their sentences end:

• Tony Hudgell was just 41 days old when he was brutally abused by his birth parents, suffering injuries so severe that both of his legs had to be amputated. Tony Hudgell's abusers were sentenced to 10 years in prison but released after serving only six. Now both are free and will not be subject to further offender management after their sentences end, despite the lifelong damage they inflicted on Tony and the potential risk they pose to other children. Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, who fought to strengthen sentencing for child abusers through Tony's Law, is now leading calls for a Child Cruelty Register to protect children once perpetrators leave prison (Kent Online, 26 October, link),

The Conservative Party's plan to introduce a Child Cruelty Register:

• We have tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to create a Child Cruelty Register. The Child Cruelty Register would ensure that those convicted of serious violence towards children, infanticide, and female genital mutilation, among other offenders, will require ongoing management by police and probation after their sentences end. With similar notification requirements to the Sex Offenders Register, the requirements of the Child Cruelty Register will require those subject to it to register name changes, address changes, and contact with children. Failure to do so will be a criminal offence (Crime and Policing Bill, Running List of Amendments, 12 February 2026, link).