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Data on registered sexual offenders is published in local multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Reports which are available in the House Libraries and on the internet at:
www.probation.justice.gov.uk
These reports record that the number of registered sexual offenders in each police force area in England and Wales over the last five years is as follows:
Area 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Avon and Somerset 525 671 674 787 809 Bedfordshire 220 270 335 394 323 Cambridgeshire 282 322 353 387 407 Cheshire 390 429 474 537 577 County Durham 240 265 306 327 348 Cumbria 208 231 253 260 280 Derbyshire 459 479 554 628 609 Devon and Cornwall 637 725 808 879 920 Dorset 273 333 352 379 415 Dyfed-Powys 199 232 275 308 299 Essex 440 542 680 802 735 Gloucestershire 196 231 284 311 311 Greater Manchester 1,278 1,388 1,800 1,643 1,722 Gwent 278 319 365 391 406 Hampshire 849 999 1,035 1,118 1,190 Hertfordshire 225 280 328 428 400 Humberside 544 584 645 715 653 Kent 730 780 954 941 983 Lancashire 637 726 980 941 998 Leicestershire 413 484 508 543 534 Lincolnshire 250 328 380 401 414 London 2,085 2,272 2,657 3,113 3,151 Merseyside 657 791 941 970 975 Norfolk 416 484 547 637 546 North Wales 348 308 389 395 405 North Yorkshire 234' 283 315 338 359 Northamptonshire 200 246 310 344 355 Northumbria 632 750 851 898 870 Nottinghamshire 607 651 708 712 747 South Wales 545 606 765 680 695 South Yorkshire 577 682 911 791 830 Staffordshire 365 458 538 627 676 Suffolk 279 309 368 393 413 Surrey 277 371 371 390 426 Sussex 553 581 752 804 789 Teesside 303 339 393 354 357 Thames Valley 563 763 822 936 982 Warwickshire 183 183 231 232 259 West Mercia 524 565 689 635 655 West Midlands 1,312 1,647 2,158 1,925 1,850 West Yorkshire 1,227 1,431 1,669 1,373 1,387 Wiltshire 255 234 266 316 356 Total 21,415 24,572 28,994 29,983 30,416
Data on the number of paedophiles are not collected as the term “paedophile” is not used in the criminal law. Instead, the law sets out various requirements, including registration, for those who are convicted or cautioned for a wide range of sexual offences. Some offences are defined by the age of the victim but for other offences the age of the victim is immaterial. The data in the annual reports include all registered sexual offenders.