What is a Sexual Risk Order (SRO)?

An SRO will prevent you from doing whatever is prescribed in the order. The conditions must be necessary to protect the public in the UK – or children or vulnerable adults abroad – from harm.

You will not be placed on the Sex Offenders Register, but you will be required to notify the police of your name and address and notify them of any changes to these details.

An SRO will apply for a minimum two-year period unless the police decide to end it beforehand. If it contains a foreign travel restriction, this will apply for a maximum of five years.

If you wish to appeal against your SRO, or apply to have the conditions varied, you can do so by applying to the relevant court:

• When the SRO was made by the Magistrates’ Court either that court or any Magistrates’ Court for the area in which you live
• When a Youth Court made the order either that court or any youth court for the area in which you live
• When the Youth Court made the order but you are now aged over 18, any Magistrates’ Court for the area in which you live

If you fail to comply with any of the conditions of your SRO, this may result in a criminal conviction carrying a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.

An SRO is a civil order and does not form part of your criminal record, although the police will retain details of it on the Police National Computer. As such, there are no specific legal requirements for you to disclose that you are subject to an SRO.

This information would not be disclosed on a basic or standard criminal record certificate, but may be included, at the discretion of a Chief Constable on an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate, if the information is deemed to be relevant to the role for which you have applied. For further information about the disclosure of police intelligence on enhanced DBS certificates, please see here.