If someone is in danger or at risk

If a child you know is being abused, find out how to report possible child abuse.

If someone is in immediate danger, please call 999.

If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service 18000 or text us on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service.

The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSODS) lets you formally ask the police whether someone who has contact with a child or children:

It's not a law, but it is sometimes called 'Sarah's Law'. It gives guidance on how you can ask us to use our existing police powers to share information about sex offenders.

If you’re worried about someone’s behaviour towards a child, or something you've seen, heard or been told, you can use Sarah's Law to find out if that person is a risk.

You must apply for information about a specific person and a specific child or children they spend time with. You cannot apply for general information about child sex offenders.

Sarah's Law lets you ask the police for information about someone

Find out how to report possible child abuse.

Who can apply

Anyone who is worried about someone's behaviour towards a child can apply, not just a child's parents. This includes people like a grandparent, neighbour or friend.

No matter who makes the application, if there is information we decide to share, we will tell whoever can use the information to keep the child safe.

This might not be the person who made the application, it might be someone else (like the child's parents).

Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (Clare's Law)

If the person you're asking about is your partner and you're worried that you're at risk from them, you can ask for information under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (often called Clare's Law).

How to apply

You can:

You must apply for information about a specific person you're worried about.

You can apply for information on behalf of one child, or more than one child, at a time.

We'll ask you about:

We might share information you give us

If we need to keep a child safe, we might share information you give us with other organisations like social care services, probation and health services.

Sarah's Law: What happens after you apply

After you apply for information under Sarah's Law we will:

We'll only ever contact you at a time and in a way that you have told us is safe for you.

If your request does not fall under Sarah's Law and we decide not to progress your application, we'll explain why and what we might do instead.

For example, if you're suspicious about someone's behaviour but are not asking for information on behalf of a specific child or children, we will not be able to share information with you under Sarah’s Law. But we still want to hear about your concerns, and we'll always take action if we need to keep a child safe.

If we decide to progress your application, we will arrange an in-depth interview with you.

The interview should take place within 10 days of your application.

It will usually be in person, but could happen over the phone.

The in-depth interview is for us to find out more details and to make sure that your request is genuine.

We will not tell you any information about the person you are asking about at this stage. We have to complete our checks first.

We may give you more information about the Sarah's Law scheme, and general information on keeping children safe.

At the in-depth interview you'll need to show us:

Ideally you'll be able to show two forms of identification, which could include:

A birth certificate or personal child health record (red book) could be used to prove your relationship to the child.

If you don't have these forms of identification, that won't necessarily stop you from making an application. It may be possible for someone else (like a social worker or health visitor) to confirm your or the child's identity. Talk to us about identification when we contact you to work out a solution with us.

We can't tell you anything under Sarah's Law if we can't confirm your identity, or if you choose to remain anonymous. This does not mean we'll ignore your concerns. We'll always take action if we need to keep a child safe.

Next we'll do more detailed checks on the person you are asking about. We will use any information we find out to decide if they are a risk to the child or children you are asking about.

We'll work with other people like social care, probation and health services to find out more. We may share information you have given us with them as part of our investigation.

If we think we're likely to share some information about the person you have asked about, we might speak to them at this point, unless we think this is not appropriate.

If it's appropriate to share some information, we'll tell whoever can best use the information to keep the child safe. This might not be the person who made the application, it might be someone else (like the child's parents).

In some cases we might share information with more than one person, if that's what we need to do to keep all the children involved safe. For example, if the child's parent is under 18 themselves, we might share information with their parent, carer or social worker.

If we don't share information with you because you are not the best person to keep the child safe, we won't tell you that we're sharing information with someone else. This does not mean we're ignoring your concerns. We'll always take action if we need to keep a child safe.

The maximum time from your initial enquiry to us sharing information (or telling you that there is nothing to share) should be 45 days.

If we plan to share some information with you, you'll be asked to sign a legal agreement promising not to tell anyone else. We will not share any information with you if you don't sign this confidentiality agreement.

If the person you're asking about has no previous record of sexual offences against children, and they don't pose any known or suspected risks to the child or children, then we won't tell you anything except that there's no information to share.