There has been a ‘collective failure’ to address questions about the ethnicity of perpetrators when it comes to child sexual exploitation, according to Baroness Louise Casey's report into grooming gangs.
Commissioned by the Prime Minister in January, the review of the scale and nature of group-based child exploitation and abuse estimates that around 500,000 children a year are likely to experience child sexual abuse.
However, it warned that because of ‘confusing and inconsistently’ applied definitions and a lack of data across local authorities and other public bodies, it is ‘highly unlikely’ that this figure reflects the true scale of the issue.
The ethnicity of perpetrators was ‘shied away from’ and is still not recorded for two-thirds of offenders, Baroness Casey found, adding that while perpetrators came from a mix of ethnicities and nationalities, ‘a high proportion of the perpetrators in these cases were from Asian ethnic backgrounds.’
Responding to the report, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government will make it a formal requirement for ethnicity and nationality data to be collected for all child sexual abuse cases.
Baroness Casey’s report also highlighted the fact that child protection plans on the grounds of sexual abuse have fallen to their lowest level in 30 years, while there is no data published by children’s services about group-based abuse.
Elsewhere in the report, Baroness Casey praised many local authorities for going ‘above and beyond’ to safeguard children when it comes to issuing taxi licenses, but warned they were hindered by ‘legal loopholes’ that allow drivers to apply for a license in one area before operating in another.
The Government has announced a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal will be launched.
A Downing Street spokesperson reportedly said: ‘By setting up a new inquiry under the inquiries act with statutory powers to compel witnesses, the local authorities and institutions who fail to act to protect young people will not be able to hide and will finally be held to account for their action.’
Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association, commented: ‘Child sexual exploitation is a horrific crime and one that we must all work together to tackle. Children’s safety is of paramount importance. Councils stand ready to support and play their part in the national inquiry.’
