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Statement on government action plan to tackle grooming gangs and child sexual abuse

Published:

Baroness Newlove welcomed the government’s commitment to the IICSA recommendations and urged faster action to guarantee therapeutic support for victims, including adult survivors, and wraparound care for those giving evidence at inquiries.

On 16 January, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper updated Parliament on the government’s plans to protect young people from sexual abuse and grooming gangs.

This announcement follows a letter from the Victims’ Commissioner to the Home Secretary on 13 January 2025, which called for concerted action on implementing the recommendations of the the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and to enhance support for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

In a statement, Baroness Newlove welcomed the announcement of a timetable for implementing the recommendations and urged the government to “fast-track” its commitment to guarantee specialist therapeutic support for victims, including extending this guarantee to adult survivors.

The Victims’ Commissioner went further, calling for the announced local inquiries to provide dedicated specialist wraparound support for victims, ensuring they “do not risk being retraumatised or left to face the trauma alone.”

The full statement follows below.

The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, said:
I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement to the House on tackling child sexual abuse. For me, one thing is clear: the needs of victims and survivors must always come first.

Earlier this week, I wrote to the Home Secretary, emphasising that protecting and supporting survivors must remain our top priority. Those who come forward must be supported with life-saving therapeutic services and must never be left to shoulder their burden alone.

In her inquiry report, Professor Alexis Jay recommended the government introduce a national guarantee, ensuring that child victims of sexual abuse are offered specialist and accredited therapeutic support. I welcome the government’s commitment to this, and to set a timetable for implementing all the IICSA recommendations. This must include the fast-tracking of that national guarantee.

It is crucial that children receive the support they need. But we must not forget there are also many adult survivors who need help and support, who are unable to access the services they require. The government must extend this commitment to adult survivors, with new dedicated funding made available.

I welcome the Home Secretary’s announcement of robust local inquiries. These inquiries must be rooted in the experiences of victims and survivors, and I am encouraged by the involvement of Tom Crowther KC. The new framework for victim-centred inquiries, including support for local victim panels and involving victim-survivors in the design, is a positive step forward.

However, while these inquiries rely on the testimony of victims, we too often fail to recognise the personal toll this process takes on victims. These inquiries must guarantee dedicated specialist wraparound support to ensure victims do not risk being retraumatised or left to face the trauma alone.

We must uncover the full scale and nature of the abuse, and I welcome the involvement of Baroness Casey on the rapid audit. Yet we know that the data captured is still inadequate. In her report, Professor Jay recommended a core dataset capturing key data on victims and perpetrators, consistent across public agencies. Yet this was not what was outlined in the Home Secretary’s statement last week. Such a dataset is critical for understanding and preventing future child sexual abuse, and I urge the government to take this recommendation forward in full.

Other commitments, too, also require further scrutiny. The effectiveness of the mandatory reporting requirement will hinge on social care, health, and justice professionals receiving the necessary training to recognise signs of abuse, as well as adequate resources to manage the increased referrals. Without these measures, we risk abuse continuing to go undetected and underreported.

There is much to commend in the Home Secretary’s statement, but now is the time for victims’ voices to be heard and for meaningful action to follow. These victims and survivors must receive the protection and life-saving therapeutic support they need and deserve—we cannot, and must not, fail them once again.

ENDS