Child sexual exploitation is a despicable crime and those guilty of participation in grooming gangs must be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law. Victims and survivors must also be protected and supported. At the same time, it is vital to learn lessons from the failures of the past so that, as a society, we do everything possible to prevent child abuse and deliver justice for victims.
Since the Government took power last year, I have been working with colleagues in Parliament to implement the changes previous Governments have failed to make. These changes, many of which were recommended by past inquiries, include longer prison sentences for grooming offenders, as well as mandatory reporting duties so that anyone turning a blind eye to abuse will also face justice. For the first time, police forces will also be required to collect ethnicity and nationality data in all cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation. I am concerned that because the last Government did not take steps to collect this data, historic patterns of crime were not understood and tackled.
Alongside implementing the recommendations of past inquiries, in January, the Government commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to examine what further reviews, investigations and actions are required to address the failure to tackle grooming gangs. Baroness Casey has now completed her work. Her recommendations include the establishment of a national inquiry with statutory inquiry powers under the Inquiries Act 2005, to oversee both new and ongoing local inquiries into grooming gangs. I welcome that this will be established as soon as possible.
The process of selecting an independent chair for the national inquiry is under way, and a dedicated victims and survivors panel is supporting the process. The inquiry’s terms of reference will follow, shaped by a public consultation. The inquiry will be trauma-informed and time-limited, as recommended by Baroness Casey, ensuring accountability, truth and change.
More widely, it is completely unacceptable to use race and ethnicity or community relations as an excuse not to investigate and punish sex offenders. All of us have a responsibility to protect children. As your MP, I will keep working to change protection for the better, give a voice to victims, and to ensure that perpetrators, whoever they are, pay the price for their crimes.
Thank you for contacting me about this important issue.
Best wishes
Rt Hon Hilary Benn
MP for Leeds South
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland