Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to comments made by the director of Parents Against Sexual Exploitation on BBC Radio 4 on 31 December 2014, what assessment she has made of (a) the geographical extent of the incidence of young people being groomed for sexual abuse and (b) the adequacy of skills in police forces to deal with such abuse.

We know that child sexual abuse and exploitation are not confined to any particular areas of the country. It can take on many different forms. There were 495 sexual grooming offences recorded by the police in England and Wales
in the year to June 2014, a 32% increase from 376 offences in the year to June 2013.

This Government is absolutely determined that every case of child sexual abuse or exploitation is fully investigated and all perpetrators prosecuted, we will do nothing to jeopardise those aims.

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 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary inspections into how
forces are protecting children.

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

All frontline police officers receive training in identifying, protecting and safeguarding children. The College of Policing has issued authorised professional practice for police in relation to investigating child abuse and
exploitation. The College of Policing has maintained its commitment to training, and has in the last 18 months introduced a Professional Register for those who are trained as Child Abuse Investigators. Dedicated child protection
police officers also receive specialist training in investigating child abuse cases and the College of Policing are delivering additional training for frontline staff to recognise, protect and refer children at risk of child
sexual exploitation. This will result in greater awareness and better handling of victims by the police along with improved police performance in tackling the perpetrators.