Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of how many girls have been victims of Pakistani heritage grooming gangs.

The Government is working to ensure that perpetrators are pursued and brought to justice, and victims and survivors of all forms of child sexual abuse are protected and supported.

The Government continues to fund the Child Sexual Exploitation Police Taskforce, which has brought together the best police data that is available on group-based offending and was published in November 2024. In this context group-based offending includes any offence with two or more perpetrators. That data is available publicly online via: https://www.hydrantprogramme.co.uk/publications/hydrant-publications#LatestNews. We will work further with the Taskforce to improve the accuracy and robustness of the data and analysis.

Investigation and prosecution decisions are independent matters for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Anyone who has been incorrectly reprimanded as a result of blowing the whistle should be raising their concerns with the appropriate authority for consideration and action. Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), workers who blow the whistle are entitled to certain protections, including protection from detriment or dismissal as a result of blowing the whistle, and a route of redress through the Employment Tribunals if these protections are infringed.