Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of new cases of historic child abuse which have come forward in the last 12 months; and what recent assessment she has made of the capabilities of police forces to deal with such cases.

Child sexual abuse is a reprehensible crime which this government is determined to stamp out. We have been clear that if anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, or knows of someone who has been a victim, then they should
report it to the police so that it can be thoroughly investigated. The Home Office does not collate statistics on the number of historic cases of child abuse being reported. The resourcing for individual operations investigating child sexual abuse is an operational matter for the relevant Chief Officer.

Operation Hydrant is the national policing response to the oversight and co-ordination of all child abuse investigations concerning persons of public prominence or those offences which took place historically in institutional
settings. Overseen by the National Policing Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations, Operation Hydrant is responsible for the production of best practice guidance for Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) investigating
relevant allegations.

The College of Policing has also produced Authorised Professional Practice (APP) for forces on Managing complex child abuse investigations.