West Yorkshire has one of the highest numbers of sex offenders in the country, according to register figures

Shock new figures show that West Yorkshire has one of the highest numbers of sex offenders in the country.

According to data, there are 2,336 registered sex offenders in the county, a rate of 118.9 per 100,000 people aged 10 and over - 21% higher than the England and Wales average.

And the figures represent a trend of annual increases in some categories.

Many people convicted of sex offences are required to sign the Sex Offenders Register.

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are statutory arrangements to assess and manage the risk posed by certain sexual and violent offenders. The aim is to prevent offenders from committing further offences.

The number of MAPPA-eligible offenders charged with serious further offences (SFO) in the latest reporting period is 222 - a 28per cent rise from 2013/14 when 174 were charged with a SFO.

This increase is almost entirely due to a 29% rise in Level 1 managed offenders, the least dangerous, charged with a SFO from 143 in 2013/14 to 185 in 2014/15.

Annual increases in the number of SFOs from 2010/11 to 2013/14 were broadly in line with increases in the number of MAPPA-eligible offenders. Although the number of MAPPA-eligible offenders continued to increase between 2013/14 and 2014/15, the rise in the number of SFOs outpaced the rise in the MAPPA population.

On March 31, there were 68,214 MAPPA-eligible offenders. Of these, 73% were Category 1 (registered sexual offenders), 27% were Category 2 (violent offenders) and less than 1% were Category 3 (other dangerous offenders).

The total number of MAPPA-eligible offenders on March 31 is five per cent higher than on March 31 2014. This increase is entirely in Category 1 (registered sex offenders), while numbers in the other two categories fell slightly.

The Category 1 increase is influenced by sentencing trends, in which the number of people convicted of sexual offences is increasing. Additionally, many sexual offenders are required to register for long periods of time and this has a cumulative effect on the total number of offenders required to register at any one time.

MAPPA bring together the police, probation and prison services. Offenders eligible for MAPPA are identified and information is gathered and shared about them across relevant agencies. The nature and level of the risk of harm they pose is assessed and a co-ordinated risk management plan is implemented to protect the public.