Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what independent support has been put in place to support victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation ahead of the national inquiry.

We recognise the devastating impacts that child sexual exploitation and abuse can have on victims and survivors and are committed to ensuring that specialist support is provided to help victims and survivors rebuild and move forward with their lives.

It will be up to the national inquiry, once established, to establish its own processes to engage and support victims and survivors.

In the meantime, victims and survivors participating in the inquiry set-up engagement process, coordinated by the National Working Group (NWG) charity, are able to access support, including therapeutic support (via the NWG).

We are also providing £2.59 million in 2025-26 for the Support for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Fund, providing a range of support services with national reach.

The Home Office also launched the invitation-to-tender for the national Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) Service contract in September 2025, which will expand coverage from two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales to all local authorities in England and Wales.

The service provides specialist modern slavery and child exploitation expertise to ensure child victims are protected from further harm, prevent possible repeat victimisation or re-trafficking, and promote the child’s recovery. It supports child victims of sexual exploitation and grooming who have been referred into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the professionals working with them.

The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the NRM in England and Wales. This includes adults who experienced sexual exploitation as children.