Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Home Office

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.

As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.

The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

Answering body: Home Office

In April, the Government published the ‘Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Progress Update’ which sets out the action this Government is taking in response to the recommendations in IICSA’s final report, alongside broader steps to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation.

As set out in the Progress Update, the Government agrees with the importance of having a clear focus on children across Government, including at Cabinet level. The Secretary of State for Education is the Cabinet minister for children. A new Keeping Children Safe ministerial board will also drive and mainstream the strong collective cross Government focus on children’s wellbeing, safety and opportunity. This will bring together Ministers from the Government departments with a key role on issues affecting children.

The Progress Update also sets out the Government’s commitment to create a Child Protection Authority for England to help make the child protection system clearer, more unified and to ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support. The Progress Update sets out the next steps the Government will take to establish a Child Protection Authority, which will build on the foundation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

Answering body: Home Office

The recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (the Inquiry) covered a broad range of issues and departmental responsibilities, including reforms to the child protection system, improving data, awareness-raising and supporting victims and survivors.

Responding to child sexual abuse requires a cross-Government effort and the Home Office is working collaboratively with departments across Government, including the Department for Education, to take action on the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry.

Answering body: Home Office

The Home Office set up an inter-ministerial group in late 2024, which I chaired the first meeting on the 12th November 2024.

Ministers from the Home Office, Cabinet Office, Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, Ministry of Justice, Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, Department of Culture, Media and Support and Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government are involved in these discussions.

This forum will continue to meet regularly to support the Government’s action on the IICSA recommendations and broader efforts to tackle child sexual abuse across government.

Answering body: Home Office

On 16 January the Home Secretary set out to Parliament the steps the Government is taking to tackle the terrible crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

This included a commitment to set out a plan, before Easter, for the action the Government will take against the 20 recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report.

This followed the Home Secretary's statement to Parliament of 6 January in which she committed to several new measures which respond to IICSA's recommendations, including introducing a mandatory duty for those working with children to report sexual abuse and exploitation, making grooming an aggravating factor to toughen up sentencing, and introducing a new performance framework for policing.

The Home Secretary has written to the National Police Chiefs' Council requesting officers look again at these unsolved and closed grooming gangs cases, backed by £2.5m in funding for stronger investigations The remit of the Independent Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel has also been extended so that it covers not just historic cases before 2013 but all cases since to ensure victims of abuse have the right to an independent review.

Answering body: Home Office

On 16 January the Home Secretary set out to Parliament the steps the Government is taking forward to tackle the terrible crimes of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

This includes setting out a clear timetable, before Easter, for taking forward the 20 recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report and implementing all the remaining recommendations in IICSA’s separate standalone report on child sexual exploitation by organised networks from February 2022.

Answering body: Ministry of Justice

Information on timeliness through the criminal justice system is published as part of the quarterly Accredited Official Statistics series “Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly” which is available at the link provided: Criminal court statistics.

Information on whether defendants dealt with are part of ‘grooming gangs’ is not centrally identified in the criminal courts data systems relevant to this question. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the specific information requested.

The Government’s priority is to take action on delivering the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The Home Secretary announced that we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in CSA cases, and introducing a new performance framework for policing.

Answering body: Home Office

We have been clear that this Government is prioritising work to safeguard children, ensure victims and survivors are protected and supported, while pursing offenders and bringing them to justice.

I have supported, and continue to support, many victims and survivors of grooming gangs and other forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse, both in my capacity as Minister, Member of Parliament and continuing support for those I worked with before becoming an MP.

And we are continuing to work across Government and with policing and law enforcement partners at pace to further strengthen our prevention of and response to all forms of child sexual abuse. This includes the commitments the Home Secretary has outlined in Parliament to introduce a mandatory duty for those working with children to report sexual abuse and exploitation, to make grooming an aggravating factor to toughen up sentencing, and to improve data collection across forces.

In her statement on 16 January 2025, the Home Secretary announced that the Government will be working to develop a new framework for victim-centred, locally-led inquiries, where they are needed, and as a first step to work with Oldham Council and up to four other pilot areas. This will also include support for local authorities who want to explore other ways of supporting victims, including setting up local panels or drawing on the experience of the IICSA Truth Project.

The Home Secretary will also ask all chief constables to look again at historic gang exploitation cases where ‘No Further Action’ was taken, and work with the police Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce to pursue new lines of inquiry and re-open investigations where appropriate and these new measures will be backed by £2 million of additional funding for the taskforce and the panel.

In addition to the statutory support local authorities provide to victims of modern slavery, for potential child victims, the Government has rolled out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. The ICTG service is currently delivered by Barnardo's.

Answering body: Home Office

It is essential that we continue to learn from past failings on group-based Child Sexual Exploitation to improve and strengthen our ongoing response to grooming gangs offending.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Professor Alexis Jay, was conducted over seven years and engaged with more than 7,000 victims and survivors. None of the 20 recommendations from the final report were implemented by the previous Government. IICSA also conducted a dedicated two-year investigation into abuse by organised networks and published a report in February 2022. His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue (HMICFRS) published an inspection into the effectiveness of the police response to group-based Child Sexual Exploitation in December 2023. Local inquiries have also taken place in many local authority areas including Rotherham, Oldham, Rochdale, Bradford and Telford.

Answering body: Home Office

Tackling child sexual abuse is a cross-government priority and we are working at pace to identify how we can best deliver against the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Safeguarding Minister has met Professor Alexis Jay and victims and survivors and has convened the first dedicated cross-Government group to drive forward change and deliver an ambitious programme of activity in response to the inquiry. To ensure that victims’ voices remain at the very heart of this process, we will set up a new victims and survivors panel to work on an ongoing basis with the inter-ministerial group and will set out more details and timescales based on that work in due course.

The Government has already announced action on three key recommendations on mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences and introducing a new performance framework for policing.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is committed to using every lever to ensure all children are protected from sexual exploitation and abuse across our communities and online, regardless of who is perpetrating that horrific abuse. We are committed to continuing to learn from past failings, providing support to victims and survivors, and ensuring across all sectors we all step up and take further responsibility for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

As part of this work, we continue to invest in the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce, which is giving practical, expert, on the ground support for local forces investigating child sexual abuse, with a focus on complex and organised child sexual exploitation. This is also supported by the Tackling Organised Exploitation programme, which is helping forces to uncover more of this offending. We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home-Office funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children's Society to tackle and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation.

And we are committed to taking swift action against the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Home Secretary announced we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual abuse cases, and taking further action to crack down on child sexual abuse and exploitation online.

The Home Secretary also announced that we will set up a new panel to ensure victims' and survivors' voices are prioritised in future policy making, alongside a dedicated inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse. IICSA made several recommendations on how to improve routes to support and compensation for victims and survivors, which the Government will be considering as part of this broader approach.

The Government will continue to support further inquiries where they may be needed, and which can expose failings and wrongdoings in local areas and institutions. But we are clear that it is right that these take place at a localised level so that those are responsible for delivering services work to ensure lessons are learnt and that local partners are doing all they can to improve their response, and that these inquiries inform regional and national responses.

Furthermore, the Government's election manifesto included a commitment to introduce a 'Hillsborough Law', which the Prime Minister has committed to introduce by the next anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster (15th April 2025). This legislation will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is committed to using every lever to ensure all children are protected from sexual exploitation and abuse across our communities and online, regardless of who is perpetrating that horrific abuse. We are committed to continuing to learn from past failings, providing support to victims and survivors, and ensuring across all sectors we all step up and take further responsibility for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

As part of this work, we continue to invest in the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce, which is giving practical, expert, on the ground support for local forces investigating child sexual abuse, with a focus on complex and organised child sexual exploitation. This is also supported by the Tackling Organised Exploitation programme, which is helping forces to uncover more of this offending. We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home-Office funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children's Society to tackle and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation.

And we are committed to taking swift action against the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Home Secretary announced we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual abuse cases, and taking further action to crack down on child sexual abuse and exploitation online.

The Home Secretary also announced that we will set up a new panel to ensure victims' and survivors' voices are prioritised in future policy making, alongside a dedicated inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse. IICSA made several recommendations on how to improve routes to support and compensation for victims and survivors, which the Government will be considering as part of this broader approach.

The Government will continue to support further inquiries where they may be needed, and which can expose failings and wrongdoings in local areas and institutions. But we are clear that it is right that these take place at a localised level so that those are responsible for delivering services work to ensure lessons are learnt and that local partners are doing all they can to improve their response, and that these inquiries inform regional and national responses.

Furthermore, the Government's election manifesto included a commitment to introduce a 'Hillsborough Law', which the Prime Minister has committed to introduce by the next anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster (15 April 2025). This legislation will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is committed to using every lever to ensure all children are protected from sexual exploitation and abuse across our communities and online, regardless of who is perpetrating that horrific abuse. We are committed to continuing to learn from past failings, providing support to victims and survivors, and ensuring across all sectors we all step up and take further responsibility for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

As part of this work, we continue to invest in the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce, which is giving practical, expert, on the ground support for local forces investigating child sexual abuse, with a focus on complex and organised child sexual exploitation. This is also supported by the Tackling Organised Exploitation programme, which is helping forces to uncover more of this offending. We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home-Office funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children's Society to tackle and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation.

And we are committed to taking swift action against the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Home Secretary announced we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual abuse cases, and taking further action to crack down on child sexual abuse and exploitation online.

The Home Secretary also announced that we will set up a new panel to ensure victims' and survivors' voices are prioritised in future policy making, alongside a dedicated inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse. IICSA made several recommendations on how to improve routes to support and compensation for victims and survivors, which the Government will be considering as part of this broader approach.

The Government will continue to support further inquiries where they may be needed, and which can expose failings and wrongdoings in local areas and institutions. But we are clear that it is right that these take place at a localised level so that those are responsible for delivering services work to ensure lessons are learnt and that local partners are doing all they can to improve their response, and that these inquiries inform regional and national responses.

Furthermore, the Government's election manifesto included a commitment to introduce a 'Hillsborough Law', which the Prime Minister has committed to introduce by the next anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster (15 April 2025). This legislation will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government's priority is to take action on delivering against the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). The Home Secretary announced on 6th January that we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in CSA cases, and setting up a new panel to ensure victims' and survivors' voices are prioritised in future policy making.

The Government will continue to support further inquiries that are needed, which can expose failings and wrongdoings in local areas and institutions. It is right that these take place at a localised level so that those are responsible for delivering services work to ensure lessons are learnt and that local partners are doing all they can to improve their response. We support local areas like Oldham Council, who have confirmed that work to set up a further local inquiry is already underway.

The Government invest in the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce (or 'Grooming Gangs Taskforce') which provides practical, expert, on the ground support for local forces investigating complex, group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation, with a focus on grooming gangs.

The Taskforce collect and report on data on group-based offending quarterly. 'Group-based' offending in this context includes any offence with two or more perpetrators. This will include - but is not limited to - 'grooming gang' type offending; other 'group-based' offending includes intra-familial and peer-on-peer abuse, for example.

In November 2024, the Taskforce published 2023 data on group-based offending (available here: https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publications#LatestNews) which includes data on ethnicity. However, it is important to note that ethnicity data is limited and should be treated with caution. The Government will be working with the Taskforce to improve data collection, including dealing with the issues around ethnicity.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is committed to using every lever to ensure all children are protected from sexual exploitation and abuse across our communities and online, regardless of who is perpetrating that horrific abuse. We are committed to continuing to learn from past failings, providing support to victims and survivors, and ensuring across all sectors we all step up and take further responsibility for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

As part of this work, we continue to invest in the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce, which is giving practical, expert, on the ground support for local forces investigating child sexual abuse, with a focus on complex and organised child sexual exploitation. This is also supported by the Tackling Organised Exploitation programme, which is helping forces to uncover more of this offending. We are also driving targeted action to respond to exploitation through the Home-Office funded Prevention Programme, delivered by The Children's Society to tackle and prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation.

And we are committed to taking swift action against the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Home Secretary announced we will be bringing in mandatory reporting, making grooming an aggravating factor in child sexual abuse cases, and taking further action to crack down on child sexual abuse and exploitation online.

The Home Secretary also announced that we will set up a new panel to ensure victims' and survivors' voices are prioritised in future policy making, alongside a dedicated inter-ministerial group on child sexual abuse. IICSA made several recommendations on how to improve routes to support and compensation for victims and survivors, which the Government will be considering as part of this broader approach.

The Government will continue to support further inquiries where they may be needed, and which can expose failings and wrongdoings in local areas and institutions. But we are clear that it is right that these take place at a localised level so that those are responsible for delivering services work to ensure lessons are learnt and that local partners are doing all they can to improve their response, and that these inquiries inform regional and national responses.

Furthermore, the Government's election manifesto included a commitment to introduce a 'Hillsborough Law', which the Prime Minister has committed to introduce by the next anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster (15 April 2025). This legislation will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities.

Answering body: Home Office

The Department does not hold this information. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has now completed its work. In line with the commitment made by the Inquiry, all information relating victims and survivors taking part in the Truth Project was securely destroyed when the Inquiry closed. Information about the Truth Project, including some statistics, are available on the following website: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/victims-and-survivors/truth-project

Answering body: Home Office

The Government is truly grateful to victims and survivors for bravely sharing their perspectives and experiences with the Inquiry and supporting its work over the past seven years.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its final Report on Thursday 20 October 2022. This is an important milestone in cross-sector efforts to tackle all forms of child sexual abuse.

Insight from victims and survivors is invaluable in understanding how we can continue to tackle this horrific crime and make sure appropriate supports are in place to help victims and survivors rebuild their lives. We will keep working across government and with a wide range of partners such as children’s charities, frontline professionals, law enforcement, and local authorities to ensure that the voices of victims and survivors are kept at the heart of our work to keep children safe from child sexual exploitation and abuse.

We will also work across Government at every level to address the issues raised by the Inquiry, and the Home Secretary will convene ministers across Whitehall to drive forward progress. This is in addition to the existing cross-departmental Governance that is already in place to monitor the implementation of the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy.

We owe it to the victims and survivors to give the Inquiry’s final recommendations proper time, consideration, and attention. That is why the Government will carefully consider all of the findings and each recommendation, including recommendation 15, before responding fully within the Inquiry’s six-month timeframe, by April 2023.

Answering body: Department for Education

Today, the independent child safeguarding practice review panel (‘the Panel’) published phase one findings from its national review into safeguarding children with disabilities and complex health needs in residential settings. I want to thank the Panel for their work to date and for their continued commitment as they move in to phase two, which will make recommendations to improve practice and policy in Spring 2023. I also want to extend my thanks to Doncaster Safeguarding Partnership and South Yorkshire Police for their co-operation and contribution to the review.

The report outlines the shocking abuse and safeguarding failures in three dual-registered children’s homes/residential special schools for disabled children in Doncaster, owned by the private provider the Hesley Group. I am horrified about what has happened and I want to assure the House that this is something that I, and the department, take with the utmost seriousness. The children living in such homes are some of the most vulnerable in our society and it is imperative that we protect them from harm. We expect all children’s homes and residential schools to provide the right support, care and protection for children who live there.

Following whistleblowing referrals in February 2021, Ofsted undertook emergency inspections. The provision’s registration was suspended and the 60 children and young adults who resided in the settings were moved to alternative settings by May. I understand that the families and the children themselves found the urgency of moving a very unsettling and disturbing process, and my heart goes out to the children, young people and their families who went through this. Doncaster Safeguarding Partnership took the lead on investigating these incidents and on working with all other relevant local authorities to ensure that the children and families affected have received support and care and been able to participate in this investigation. I am grateful to them for their action.

Given the seriousness of the concerns and the vulnerability of the children, it has been important to learn lessons as soon as possible on how to improve practice and policy to protect children better in future. That is why the then Secretary of State, Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP, agreed the Panel should undertake a national child safeguarding practice review at the same time as the ongoing live criminal investigation. This is the first time that the Panel has carried out a review while a live police investigation is ongoing, and I am unable to provide any further comments on specifics of the case as we need to respect that process.

The safety and wellbeing of all children and young people in the settings has been at the heart of all the decisions we have made. In January, my officials sought and received assurances from 55 local authorities (LAs) about the wellbeing of all of the children that had been placed in the provision operated by Hesley in scope of the investigation. In February my officials wrote out to remind all LAs of the importance of checks for all children placed out of area and the importance of ensuring that Disclosure Barring Service and pre-employment checks are always undertaken prior to anyone’s employment in residential establishments.

We also asked LAs to review their commissioning processes for children and young people with complex needs and ensure that they acted on any concerns. The Panel has asked all LAs in England to review urgently the quality and safety of individual placements of children in specialist residential provision, and they will report to the department by the end of the year.

Phase one of the review has set out the complex interactions between Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and children’s social care services, and the challenges regarding placement quality, commissioning and oversight. Phase two of the review will commence shortly and will ask some important questions about how children with SEND are safeguarded and cared for in residential settings. Most importantly, it will seek to identify ways in which practice, policy and the system might need to change to protect children better in the future.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (Care Review); and the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper provide an opportunity to reset children’s social care and SEND services and provide better outcomes for the most vulnerable children. Recent reports by the Competition Markets Authority (CMA); the National Child Safeguarding panel and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) will also be reflected in our response. Our plans for children’s social care and SEND reform are being drawn up in parallel so that reforms resulting from these reviews lead to a coherent system that works for all vulnerable children. We are rapidly working up an ambitious and comprehensive implementation strategy in response to the reviews.

However, I am committed to taking urgent action to change and improve the system as soon as possible. The department will bring forward work to:

Strengthen the standards and regulations governing the care of children who are looked after to ensure consistently high-quality provision and inspection, with a high level of ambition for all children;

Strengthen the National Minimum Standards for residential special schools;

work with Ofsted to strengthen its inspection and regulatory powers to hold private providers of children’s homes to account;

We will work closely with other government departments and partner organisations, particularly local authorities to review the role of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and consult on developing a LADO handbook that includes improving handling whistleblowing concerns and complaints in circumstances such as these.

In addition, I will convene a roundtable discussion with providers of residential special schools and children’s homes, to ensure they are holding themselves and their staff to the highest quality standards and are confident that the vulnerable children in their care are safe and having their needs met. Whilst the majority of children’s homes are rated good or outstanding, I want to work with providers to tackle issues which have been highlighted in phase one of the Panel report and act on the recommendations which will follow on completion of phase two of the Panel’s work.

I also expect Ofsted, as the inspector and regulator of residential children’s homes, to take urgent action wherever safeguarding concerns are identified. I have written to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to ask what lessons Ofsted has learned and the changes they have made as a result.

Answering body: Department for Education

The department has a statutory obligation to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) as a witness to the inquiry, and has been a core participant in 9 out of 15 of the investigations that the IICSA has reported on. The department leads on national policy for safeguarding and children’s social care, and works closely with the Home Office to ensure that the child’s voice is reflected in all policy decisions, and that the child’s experience and wellbeing is consistently brought to the forefront.

The department will be reviewing the inquiry’s recommendations and will work closely with other government departments to respond in due course. In the meantime, there will continue to be a concerted effort to ensure a whole system response to tackling child sexual abuse.

Answering body: Home Office

Twelve past reports of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse have today been laid before the House, in compliance with the Inquiries Act 2005. These reports were published by the Inquiry between August 2018 and November 2020. The reports are also available on the IICSA website and will be published on www.gov.uk.

Answering body: Home Office

Today, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published their investigation report on Residential Schools.

The report relates to IICSA’s investigations into the extent of any institutional failures to protect children in Residential Schools.

I pay tribute to the strength and courage of the victims and survivors who have shared their experiences to ensure the Inquiry can deliver its vital work.

Government will review this report and consider how to respond to its content in due course. I would like to thank Professor Jay and her Panel for their continued work to uncover the truth, identify what went wrong in the past and to learn the lessons for the future.

This report has been laid before the House today, and it will also be published on www.gov.uk.

Answering body: Home Office

Today, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published their investigation report on Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks.

The report relates to IICSA’s investigation as to whether there is evidence of conspiracy, cover-up, interference or tolerance in relation to child sexual abuse committed by persons of public prominence associated with organised networks and whether governmental, political and law enforcement institutions were aware of and took appropriate steps for safeguarding and child protection.

I pay tribute to the strength and courage of the victims and survivors who have shared their experiences to ensure the Inquiry can deliver its vital work.

Government will review this report and consider how to respond to its content in due course. I would like to thank Professor Jay and her Panel for their continued work to uncover the truth, identify what went wrong in the past and to learn the lessons for the future.

I have today laid this report before the House and it will also be published on www.gov.uk.

Answering body: Home Office

Home Office investment is supporting the police to relentlessly pursue offenders and protect victims of these horrific crimes. We fund the Tackling Organised Exploitation programme and regional analysts to help uncover more offending.

The Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme and senior leaders training drives improvement in the response to victims. And we will act on any recommendations in the forthcoming IICSA report on organised networks.

Answering body: Home Office

On the 27 July 2021, 2nd September 2021, and today, the 19 October 2021, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published three of their investigation reports.

The reports relate to IICSA’s investigations into the extent of any institutional failures to protect children in the care of Lambeth Council from sexual abuse and exploitation as well as reporting on their investigation into Child Protection in Religious Organisations and Settings. Today, they have also published a report regarding the institutional responses to allegations involving the late Lord Janner of Braunstone, QC.

I pay tribute to the strength and courage of the victims and survivors who have shared their experiences to ensure the Inquiry can deliver its vital work.

Government will review these reports and consider how to respond to their content in due course. I would like to thank Professor Alexis Jay and her Panel for their continued work to uncover the truth, identify what went wrong in the past and to learn the lessons for the future.

I have today laid these reports before the House and they will also be published on www.gov.uk.

Answering body: Home Office

The Government has carefully considered all recommendations made by the Inquiry to date. These recommendations informed the development of the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy, which was published on 22 January, and will continue to inform its implementation.

In particular, the Government is implementing a number of IICSA’s recommendations as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. This includes including further ‘positions of trust’ to which the existing offences contained within sections 16–19 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will apply, when certain activities are knowingly carried out on a regular basis within a sport or a religion. We are also placing a requirement for the courts and the police to have regard to a list of countries when they are considering the need for foreign travel prohibitions as part of the civil orders.

The Inquiry’s recommendations also have a reach far beyond central Government, and continue to inform other agencies’ approaches to addressing any institutional child protection gaps, and assisting with the culture change needed to improve the system-wide response to child sexual abuse.

Crucially, the Inquiry’s Truth Project, which has offered nearly 6,000 victims and survivors of child sexual abuse the opportunity to share their experiences, has helped to ensure the voice of victims is at the heart of organisational and societal changes going forwards.

The Inquiry’s final Report is due to be published next year which will include further findings and recommendations, which Government will carefully consider.