Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 7 August 2018 (HL9879 and HL9880), what discussions they have had, and with whom, about the investigation of whether any police officers and council officials failed to fulfil their statutory duty to protect victims of grooming gangs; and whether there have been any prosecutions of any such officers and officials.

The extent to which statutory authorities have failed to protect children from sexual exploitation is being investigated by bodies that are rightly independent of Government.

The Government established the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to consider the extent to which institutions in England and Wales have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. The Inquiry has announced that it is investigating child sexual exploitation by organised networks and will examine the extent to which the relevant authorities effectively identified the risk and took action to prevent it. The Inquiry operates independently of Government and, within its terms of reference, decides for itself what it investigates and how.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigates the most serious and sensitive incidents and allegations involving the police. The IOPC is independent of Government and the police, and is responsible for the investigations it carries out.

Government does not hold information on prosecutions specifically relating to different types of misconduct in a public office.