Since 2019, The Home Office has provided £3.9m to the Children\u2019s Society\u2019s Prevention Programme, which drives targeted action to respond to exploitation. The programme has reached over 56,000 people and works with 35 police force areas on the #LookCloser campaign delivered in partnership between The Children\u2019s Society, the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) and the British Transport Police (BTP). The #LookCloser campaign\u2019s focus is on improving public and business sector awareness of exploitation and abuse, and everyone\u2019s role in spotting and reporting concerns.<\/p>
The Government is also acting quickly to implement mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse in England, which introduces a new legal requirement for those in roles with responsibility for children to speak out when a child is being sexually abused. Following the conclusion of a call for evidence over the Summer, and a public consultation, the Government announced it will introduce mandatory reporting via amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. The Government has listened to the voices of victims and survivors and will deliver deep-rooted change to ensure children are never again so badly let down by the very institutions that should have protected them.<\/p>
If anyone has any concerns that a child is being exploited, the government strongly encourages them to report those concerns to the police or to contact the children\u2019s social care team at their local council. Members of the public can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, NSPCC Helpline or ChildLine to discuss their concerns and get confidential advice.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4826", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Laura Farris"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Laura Farris"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-03-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "16750"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-03-11T12:57:15.897Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Home Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-03-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Offences against Children"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will consider the potential merits of implementing a method for members of the public to report directly and anonymously suspected child exploitation.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4122", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Alex Cunningham"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stockton North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Alex Cunningham"} ], "uin" : "16749"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }