Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to increase the (a) reporting, (b) detection and (c) prosecution of child abuse.

Child abuse is an abhorrent crime no matter when or where it occurs. The Government is clear that if child abuse takes place, it must be thoroughly and properly investigated, and those responsible are arrested and brought to
justice. It is vital that victims feel empowered to come forward to report abuse

All chief constables have committed to a policing action plan that aims to raise the standards in tackling child sexual exploitation so that the police are providing a consistently strong approach to protecting vulnerable young
people. The National Policing Lead for child protection and abuse investigation has taken action to revise the action plan to take account of the learning from the Professor Alexis Jay report in Rotherham and other recent publications.

The Home Secretary has written to all chief constables to ask them to take on board the lessons from the Jay report into the failings in Rotherham, and from the rolling HMIC inspections into how forces are protecting children.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the College of Policing have issued guidance for police in relation to child abuse and exploitation. The guidance aims to move the focus of investigations away from testing the credibility of
victims onto the credibility of the allegation and ensuring victims are listened to by the police. In addition, a joint National Policing Lead and CPS review panel was established last year. The national panel re-examines
historical cases of sexual abuse where a decision was made that no further action would be taken and identify whether any issues require further exploration and investigation.

We must never accept a situation where police forces and other agencies fail in their fundamental duty of care towards vulnerable children.