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1006696

registered interest
date	13/11/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what, if any, circulars were issued by the Home Office to police forces in England and Wales about the circumstances in which instances of organised sexual abuse and exploitation of young women and girls should not be investigated, in each year since 2008.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL11476
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/11/2018 answer text <p>All Home Office issued circulars are published. Home Office circulars from 2012 to 2018 are available via <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/home-office-circulars-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/home-office-circulars-2018</a>. Circulars from 2003 to 2011 are on the National Archives website <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130125092816/http:/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/corporate-publications-strategy/home-office-circulars/" target="_blank">http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130125092816/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/corporate-publications-strategy/home-office-circulars/</a>.</p><p>We have not identified any Home Office circulars that set out any circumstances in which child sexual abuse and exploitation should not be investigated.</p><p>A circular issued in 2008 on the application of the Children Act stresses the paramountcy of respecting the wishes and the feelings of the child in investigations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 27/11/2018 17:02:20 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

947614

registered interest
date	24/07/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to refer to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for investigation officers in Greater Manchester Police, Thames Valley Police, West Mercia Police, and Northumbria Police for any failure in their statutory duty to protect children from so-called “grooming gangs”.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL9879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/08/2018 answer text <p>In March 2015 the Home Office established the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to consider the extent to which institutions – including the police – have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The Inquiry has announced an investigation examining institutional responses to the sexual exploitation of children by organised networks.</p><p>This Government attaches the highest priority to tackling child sexual exploitation. We have declared it a national threat and this categorisation remains in force to empower police forces to apply their best skills and expertise to tackle the problem.</p><p>The Independent Office for Police Conduct operates independently of Government and the Home Secretary does not have the power to refer matters to it for investigation.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL9880 question first answered 07/08/2018 12:05:05 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

947615

registered interest
date	24/07/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will set up a national independent inquiry into whether police forces across the country failed to fulfil their statutory duty to protect children from so-called “grooming gangs” during the period 1995 to 2015.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL9880
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/08/2018 answer text <p>In March 2015 the Home Office established the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to consider the extent to which institutions – including the police – have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The Inquiry has announced an investigation examining institutional responses to the sexual exploitation of children by organised networks.</p><p>This Government attaches the highest priority to tackling child sexual exploitation. We have declared it a national threat and this categorisation remains in force to empower police forces to apply their best skills and expertise to tackle the problem.</p><p>The Independent Office for Police Conduct operates independently of Government and the Home Secretary does not have the power to refer matters to it for investigation.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL9879 question first answered 07/08/2018 12:05:05 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

947617

registered interest
date	24/07/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what support programmes have been set up for the victims of so-called "grooming gangs"; what has been the cost of any such programmes; and what compensation, if any, those victims have received.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL9881
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/08/2018 answer text <p>This Government attaches the highest priority to tackling all forms of sexual exploitation and to ensuring that all victims, whether they are a child or an adult, get the support they need.</p><p>In each of the last three years the Government has allocated around £7.2m in funding to sexual violence support services to provide independent, specialist support to female and male victims of sexual violence, including victims of child sexual abuse. This includes £1.7m to rape support services across England and Wales to provide specialist support to victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation. A further £4.7m has been allocated to Police and Crime Commissioners specifically to commission services supporting victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation.</p><p>In 2017/18 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme paid out £154 million to victims of violent crime, including victims of childhood sexual abuse.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 07/08/2018 12:11:28 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

784735

registered interest
date	06/11/2017
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of sex grooming by organised gangs over the last 12 years; how many girls have suffered such grooming; and in which towns or areas of the UK.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL2953
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/11/2017 answer text <p>Data relating to prosecutions and convictions for group-based child sexual exploitation are not held. Prosecutions for these crimes relate to a range of different offences. There is no specific offence for organised child sexual exploitation.</p><p> </p><p>While we know that child sexual exploitation (CSE) happens in all parts of the country, we are continuing to build a national picture of offending. We have introduced new requirements for the police to record information relating to CSE, and have funded a network of police regional CSE coordinators and analysts, located in Regional Organised Crime Units. Alongside this, we have committed £7.5m of funding to the new Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse to identify and generate high-quality evidence on the nature and scale of these crimes.</p><p> </p><p>In the year to December 2016 9,305 defendants were prosecuted for child sexual abuse-related offences (including imagery offences), a rise of 15% on the year to December 2015 (up from 8,470) and 6,763 were convicted, an increase of 15<strong>%</strong> on the number of convictions in 2015 (up from 5,879).</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL2954 question first answered 15/11/2017 11:53:01 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

784737

registered interest
date	06/11/2017
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the police, social workers or other relevant authorities can be prosecuted or otherwise punished for failing to follow up information about sex grooming gangs which has turned out to be accurate.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL2955
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2017 answer text <p>Any sexual offence allegation must be treated seriously from the outset. Where holders of public office are thought to have wilfully neglected the duties of their office, the offence of misconduct in public office may apply.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has introduced a range of measures to tackle the culture of denial and inaction that has led to children being failed in the past, including: consulting on options to strengthen arrangements in relation to reporting and acting on child abuse or neglect; creating a new national whistleblowing helpline for public sector workers; and introducing legislation to ensure that exit payments for senior staff can be clawed back where those people are quickly re-employed in the same part of the public sector. This will ensure that those who fail to protect children see the consequences of their actions.</p><p> </p><p>Allegations of police misconduct are matters for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Where potential issues in investigations of this kind are identified, they should be referred to the IPCC.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 17/11/2017 09:38:12 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

709818

registered interest
date	09/03/2017
answering body	Attorney General
answering dept id	88
answering dept short name	Attorney General
answering dept sort name	Attorney General
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make public the identity of the witness known as Nick, and invite the Crown Prosecution Service to consider his prosecution for wasting police time in the case of Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, and other well-known figures.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL5952
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2017 answer text <p>Parliament has granted anonymity for complainants in sexual offences cases.</p><p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) acts independently of government under the superintendence of the Attorney General. If the police refer a case to the CPS to make a charging decision it will be considered in accordance with the two stage test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Prosecutors consider whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, whether a prosecution is needed in the public interest.</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie question first answered 21/03/2017 15:22:28 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

484517

registered interest
date	22/03/2016
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of grooming and sexual exploitation in Rotherham and elsewhere which has been carried out by (1) Muslims, and (2) those of other faiths or no faith.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL7294
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2016 answer text <p>The Government does not hold information on the faith of those accused or convicted of child sexual exploitation (CSE) offences.</p><p>CSE is not exclusive to any single culture, community, race or religion, and anyone who abuses children must be stopped. It happens in all areas of the country and can take many different forms. However, the previous Government’s ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ report of March 2015 makes it very clear that the issue of race, regardless of ethnic group, should be tackled as a priority if it is known to be a significant factor in the criminal activity of organised abuse in any local community.</p><p>The College of Policing (CoP) has issued clear guidance on how police forces should respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation. This is available on the CoP website at: https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/child-abuse/ .</p><p>In addition the National Policing Lead for child protection has taken action to revise the national policing CSE action plan to take account of the learning from the Professor Alexis Jay report and other recent publications. All Chief Constables have committed to this action plan that aims to raise standards in tackling CSE so that the police are providing a consistently strong approach to protecting vulnerable young people. The action plan is available on the CoP website at: https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/child-sexual-exploitation/cse-action-plan/</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie attachment 1 file name College of Policing - Major Investigation and Public Protection - Child Abuse-Safeguarding Children.mht.pdf title Safeguarding Children 2 file name CSE-action-plan-2014-2016.doc title CSE Action Plan 2014-16 question first answered 12/04/2016 15:29:51 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch

484518

registered interest
date	22/03/2016
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Offences against Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the cases of organised grooming and sexual exploitation in Rotherham and elsewhere, whether police forces have been issued with new guidance on responding to allegations of abuse; and if so, what is that guidance.
tabling member printed	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
uin	HL7295
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2016 answer text <p>The Government does not hold information on the faith of those accused or convicted of child sexual exploitation (CSE) offences.</p><p>CSE is not exclusive to any single culture, community, race or religion, and anyone who abuses children must be stopped. It happens in all areas of the country and can take many different forms. However, the previous Government’s ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ report of March 2015 makes it very clear that the issue of race, regardless of ethnic group, should be tackled as a priority if it is known to be a significant factor in the criminal activity of organised abuse in any local community.</p><p>The College of Policing (CoP) has issued clear guidance on how police forces should respond to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation. This is available on the CoP website at: https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/child-abuse/ .</p><p>In addition the National Policing Lead for child protection has taken action to revise the national policing CSE action plan to take account of the learning from the Professor Alexis Jay report and other recent publications. All Chief Constables have committed to this action plan that aims to raise standards in tackling CSE so that the police are providing a consistently strong approach to protecting vulnerable young people. The action plan is available on the CoP website at: https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/major-investigation-and-public-protection/child-sexual-exploitation/cse-action-plan/</p> answering member printed Lord Keen of Elie attachment 1 file name College of Policing - Major Investigation and Public Protection - Child Abuse-Safeguarding Children.mht.pdf title Safeguarding Children 2 file name CSE-action-plan-2014-2016.doc title Action Plan question first answered 12/04/2016 15:29:40 answering member 4538 label Biography information for Lord Keen of Elie
tabling member	3153 label Biography information for Lord Pearson of Rannoch