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IICSA published its final Report in October 2022. This website was last updated in January 2023.

Recommendations - Child sexual exploitation by organised networks investigation report

These recommendations were made in the child sexual exploitation by organised networks investigation report. 

Provide a mandatory aggravating factor for sentencing networks of child sexual exploitation offenders

Recommendation

The government should amend the Sentencing Act 2020 to provide a mandatory aggravating factor in sentencing in the case of the commission of an offence under Part 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to a child, where (1) the child was exploited, (2) ‘exploitation’ means the child was controlled, coerced, manipulated or deceived into sexual activity and (3) two or more persons were concerned in the exploitation.

Responses

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government provided its provisional response to this recommendation. The response was subsequently published on 27 July 2022. The UK Government stated that the factors set out in the recommendation are already adequately covered by the criminal law and sentencing guidelines. However, it stated that it would welcome further information to understand the rationale for this recommendation. 

Publish an enhanced Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit

Recommendations

As referenced in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy, the government should publish an enhanced version of its Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit as soon as possible. This Toolkit must:

  • specify that the core element of the definition of child sexual exploitation is that a child was controlled, coerced, manipulated or deceived into sexual activity;

  • include specific guidance on building effective problem profiles for child sexual exploitation and child sexual exploitation by networks, as differentiated from other forms of exploitation;

  • specifically state the sources and types of data that agencies should use to build problem profiles; and

  • indicate the minimum frequency at which problem profiles should be updated.

Responses

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government provided its provisional response to this recommendation. The response was subsequently published on 27 July 2022. The UK Government stated that it accepted this recommendation and a revised toolkit was published on 19 July 2022.

Review government guidance on child sexual exploitation

Recommendations

The Department for Education should review and publish an updated version of its guidance on child sexual exploitation. The update should specify that the core element of the definition of child sexual exploitation is that a child was controlled, coerced, manipulated or deceived into sexual activity.

It should also include detailed information on:

  • the role of the internet in the perpetration of child sexual exploitation; and

  • how to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation perpetrated by networks of offenders.

The Welsh Government should also update its guidance on child sexual exploitation to provide detailed information on how to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation perpetrated by networks of offenders.

Responses

On 30 June 2022, the Welsh Government stated that it would consider what amendments may be needed to its Working Together to Safeguard People guidance. It also stated that work to develop further practice advice on the identification and response to risk of, or abuse through, child sexual exploitation would include detailed advice on how to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation perpetrated by networks of offenders.

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government provided its provisional response to this recommendation. The response was subsequently published on 27 July 2022. The UK Government stated that it accepted this recommendation in principle, but will not make the changes immediately as it will also need to consider and respond to recommendations from national child protection reviews, and the outcomes of a national thematic inspection into the policing response to group-based child sexual exploitation and joint targeted area inspections on child criminal exploitation.

Ensure government guidance distinguishes between risk and harm

Recommendations

 The Department for Education and the Welsh Government must ensure that their updated national guidance makes clear that signs that a child is being sexually exploited must never be treated as indications that a child is only ‘at risk’ of experiencing this harm.

 

In line with this, local authorities in England and Wales should ensure that their assessment of risk and harm enables them to accurately distinguish between:

 

children who are at risk of experiencing sexual exploitation;

children who are experiencing or have already experienced sexual exploitation; and

children who have experienced sexual exploitation and are at risk of experiencing further abuse.

Responses

On 30 June 2022, the Welsh Government stated that the term 'child at risk' has a legal basis in Wales and is defined in the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 as a child who "is experiencing or is at risk of abuse". Therefore, it stated that references to a child as 'at risk' in legislation and statutory guidance which inform practice are not intended to suggest that a child 'at risk' is not already experiencing abuse.

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government provided its provisional response to this recommendation. The response was subsequently published on 27 July 2022. The UK Government stated that it accepted this recommendation in principle, but will not make the changes immediately as it will also need to consider and respond to recommendations from national child protection reviews, and the outcomes of a national thematic inspection into the policing response to group-based child sexual exploitation and joint targeted area inspections on child criminal exploitation. Future work will include ensuring clarity on the language used in risk assessments and building a greater understanding of risk assessment tools and their application.

Collect data on child sexual exploitation and child sexual exploitation networks

Recommendations

Police forces and local authorities in England and Wales must collect data on all cases of known or suspected child sexual exploitation and child sexual exploitation by networks. These data should be separated from other data sets, including data on child sexual abuse, and be disaggregated by the sex, ethnicity and disability of both the victim and perpetrator.

This disaggregated data should be used by police forces to inform problem profiling and activities to disrupt and investigate offenders. Local authorities should take account of the disaggregated data when commissioning services for children.

The UK Government and the Welsh Government should take steps to ensure that these data are being collected and disaggregated in a consistent and accurate way by police forces and local authorities.

Responses

On 30 June 2022, the Welsh Government stated that in March 2021 it introduced statutory guidance which requires relevant partners of the Safeguarding Board across Wales to establish arrangements which address the matters contained in this recommendation.

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government provided its provisional response to this recommendation. The response was subsequently published on 27 July 2022. The UK government stated that it was working with police to improve the collection, analysis and use of data on child sexual exploitation. It stated that this included funding dedicated to child sexual abuse and exploitation analysts in every policing region, to support local forces in tackling child sexual exploitation. The UK government also stated that it had introduced a mandatory requirement for police forces to record the ethnicity of those arrested and held in custody as a result of their suspected involvement in grooming gangs.

Ban the unregulated placement of children

Recommendations

The Department for Education should ban the placement in semi-independent and independent settings of children aged 16 and 17 who have experienced, or are at heightened risk of experiencing, sexual exploitation. This should be implemented without delay.

Reponses

On 30 June 2022, the UK Government provided its provisional response to this recommendation. The response was subsequently published on 27 July 2022. The UK government stated that it believed that local authorities are best placed to make individual placement decisions based on a child’s best interests and their stated wishes, including where this concerns children who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing sexual exploitation. It stated that it did not believe that a blanket ban would aid local authorities in making these decisions. The UK Government also stated that in September 2021 the placement of under-16s in semi-independent provisions was banned, and that mandatory national standards and Ofsted registration and inspection for providers of currently unregulated provision for 16- and 17-year-olds were being introduced.

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