UK Government Publishes National Audit into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
A National Audit into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (‘grooming gangs’) in England and Wales has been published today (16 June).
In January 2025, the UK Government asked Baroness Louise Casey to carry out the audit in to examine existing data and evidence on the nature and scale of child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs.
The report of the audit:
- outlines what can be learnt about the scale, nature and characteristics of group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
- considers the drivers of this type of offending, including the role of ethnicity and culture; and
- brings together the response to group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse at local and national level to date.
The audit found flaws in data collection, which it says means it is not possible to assess the scale of the issue, and a lack of data regarding the ethnicity of perpetrators. Baroness Casey concludes that previous reviews, reports and inquiries have failed to lead to meaningful change for children.
The report sets out 12 recommendations to address the issues identified in the audit. In a statement in the UK Parliament, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the Government accepted all 12 of the recommendations. The Government will:
- launch a full national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales, overseen by a national commission with statutory powers, that has the voices, experiences and insights of survivors at the heart of this process,
- introduce legislation to tighten the law in England and Wales so adults who have sex with a child under 16 are always charged with rape,
- introduce the mandatory collection of ethnicity and nationality data for all suspects in child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation cases; and
- introduce measures so that the convictions of children who were criminalised when they should have been protected will be disregarded.
The Government also said the National Crime Agency would launch a national criminal operation into group-based child sexual exploitation.
Read the National Audit into Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Read the Home Secretary’s statement