The details of missing offenders will be published on a website

Offenders who fail to co-operate with the police or abscond from the address they have given could have their details published on a special website.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre publishes details of the UK's most wanted sex offenders.

The Scottish Executive is working to ensure it is available in Scotland.

Sex offenders

It comes after members of a special Holyrood sub-committee considered the issue in the wake of the murder of eight-year-old Mark Cummings.

He was killed and thrown down a rubbish chute by Stuart Legatte, a known sex offender, who lived in the same tower block in Royston, Glasgow.

Since his death in 2004 his mother Margaret Ann Cummings has campaigned for the introduction of Mark's Law which would allow parents to be told if there are registered sex offenders living in their area.

Members of the Justice 2 sub-committee recommended that high-risk sex offenders who refuse to co-operate with police should have their details put on the internet.

Ms Jamieson said: "I can confirm that we are now working with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), and Crimestoppers to ensure this new online resource is also available in Scotland."

The mother of Mark Cummings has campaigned for more information

She added: "We also know that the law abiding public, who want to feel safer in their homes and on the streets, are concerned about sex offenders living in their community.

"The extension of the CEOP system to Scotland, alongside the considerable other changes we have introduced in recent years to improve the way sex offenders are managed, is designed to help achieve that, and increase protection for the public."

The justice minister added that the sex offenders' registration scheme had been tightened on numerous occasions since it was introduced in 1997.

Offenders must now provide officers with more information about themselves - such as bank, credit card and passport details.

Police also now have the power to enter and search an offender's home for monitoring, to carry out a risk assessment or to check information on the register.