Government leaders make major CSE announcement during Rochdale visit

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary chose Rochdale to make a major announcement in relation to child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman hosted a round table at the Royal Toby Hotel in Rochdale with Chief Constable Stephen Watson, Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jackson, Rochdale’s District Commander Nicky Porter, Head of the Force CSE Unit Dave Kehoe and stakeholders in attendance.

Earlier in the day the Government announced the development of a Child Exploitation Police Taskforce to provide practical, expert and on-the-ground support for local forces investigating CSE and grooming gangs.

The Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme is also being rolled out, bringing together force level, regional and national data and intelligence and expert analysis to help forces uncover networks responsible for CSE.

This joins a Complex and Organised Child Abuse Database, to strengthen knowledge and improve collection of demographic information and a network of regional analysts funded by the Home Office through the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

There is also updated guidance for ‘Sarah’s Law’, a disclosure scheme which allows anyone to request information to find out if someone has a conviction for sexual offences against children, with Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders making it easier to manage registered offenders and those who pose a risk.

The Government also renewed support for the NSPCC’s whistleblowing helpline, available to employees who are concerned about how their employer or organisations deal with child protection issues.

During the round table, the Prime Minister’s message was clear – by working together, we can ‘stamp out evil’ that is CSE and grooming gangs. It was recognised that ‘policing has come a long way’ in dealing with the issue.

During the conversation, CC Watson reiterated the commitment of GMP in sustaining improvement across CSE and Ch Insp Kehoe said: “We have seen an increase in the confidence of cohorts of victims in the police and our partners.”

This sentiment was echoed by Gabrielle Shaw, Chief Executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC). She works with adult survivors and stated that the efforts of the past 10 years have been ‘amazing’.

“We have found that a lot of survivors have always thought that they were the only ones and had no idea that there were others,” she said. “All it takes is one to speak out and others will follow.”

GMP and partners continue with their determination to fight, prevent and reduce CSE whilst providing exceptional support for survivors.