Ban CSE-risk children from semi-independent placements
IICSA · Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks Investigation Report · Issued 1 February 2022 · Addressed to: Department for Education
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, C
The Department for Education should ban the placement in semi-independent and independent settings of children aged 16 and 17 who have experienced, or are at heightened risk of experiencing, sexual exploitation. This should be implemented without delay.
IICSA, Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks Investigation Report · 1 Feb 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced in the House of Lords in December 2024, includes provisions relating to children's home standards and regulation but does not specifically ban semi-independent placements for children at heightened risk of CSE aged 16-17 as specified in this recommendation.
- No published ban on the placement of children aged 16-17 at heightened risk of CSE in semi-independent or independent settings has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 30 June 2022, the UK government provided the Inquiry with its provisional response to this recommendation. The UK government stated its final response to this recommendation would be provided within six months of the report's publication date, by 1 August 2022, and it will then be available on the Inquiry's website.
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 9 Apr 2025 April 2025 government progress update: the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill places a duty on parents to get local authority consent to home educate their child if subject to a child protection plan or section 47 enquiries. The Bill also strengthens Ofsted's ability to hold provider group owners of residential care to account. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.