Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of every police force in England and Wales to investigate historic allegations of child sexual abuse.

We recognise that demand on the police is changing and more complex. That is why the 2019/20 police funding settlement provides the biggest increase in police funding since 2010. Police funding has increased by over £1billion.

We have prioritised child sexual abuse as a national threat, one of six such threats in the Strategic Policing Requirement. This will facilitate prioritisation of capabilities to tackle this appalling crime.

For 2018/19, the Home Office provided Special Grant Funding of over £12.5 million to child sexual abuse operations, including: Norfolk Police for Operation Hydrant, South Yorkshire Police for Operation Stovewood, North Wales Police for Operation Pallial, Cleveland Police for Operation Pandect and West Yorkshire Police covering a number of non-recent child sexual abuse investigations in the region.