Jersey's sex offenders law needs an extra £184,000

Jersey's home affairs minister said they needed an extra £184,000 for the sex offenders register

Officials behind Jersey's new sex offenders register say there is not enough money to fully fund it.

The register will mean convicted sex offenders will have to keep police informed of where they are.

Some money was agreed in the business plans for 2009 and 2010 to help fund the staff needed to administer the law but the budget is still £184,000 short.

The home affairs minister said more people are likely to be on the register than first expected.

The Probation Service is currently dealing with seven sexual abusers, which the minister says is taking up a lot of staff time.

If the department does not get more funding for the sex offenders register it could mean other offenders do not get the supervision they should have, according to the minister.

The department applied to cover the shortfall as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, but it was not considered essential by the council of ministers.

Home affairs minister Senator Ian Le Marquand has warned that if the law is going to be enacted now, more funding will need to be agreed next year to maintain it.

Senator Le Marquand said they were expecting legal costs of £22,000 for each name added to the list.

He said the extra £184,000 was needed for several reasons.

He said: "There are two areas in which more money is needed, one is staff but the really big issue in terms of extra money is anticipated legal costs.

"We estimate that for every case on average there will be costs of about £22,000."