In a speech today, Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP will set out a new approach to tackling child abuse, including tougher powers for the police to stop abusers and a new child protection delivery unit to work across Government and drive progress in preventing abuse and exploitation.
·         These new measures are being announced alongside new data showing that police forces are struggling to keep up with the big increase in cases coming forward at the same time as they face major staffing cuts. Although there has been a big increase in child protection conferences (organised when a child is considered at significant risk of harm), in many areas police are attending only a small proportion and the number of cases where the police do not attend is going up and up. Some forces are warning that a quarter of their local resources are being needed for child exploitation, even though their budget has been cut by a quarter.
·         Overall child abuse offences reported to the police have gone up by 33%, however the police are getting fewer prosecutions - child abuse prosecutions are down by 13%. And there are long delays in dealing with online child abuse with some forces reporting year long delays in getting computer checks done, while less than 1,000 of the reported 20-30,000 NCA cases under Operation Notarise have been fully investigated a year on.
·         The Shadow Home Secretary will point to research from the NSPCC suggesting more than half a million children are abused each year and will say police forces are overwhelmed. She will also warn the Government is failing to get to grips with the growth in online child abuse. She will argue for a revolution in the approach to dealing with child abuse, which includes more support for children and adult survivors, stronger prevention measures including compulsory sex and relationship education to teach about respect and consent, stronger partnership working and requirements on professionals to report abuse, and stronger powers for the police to stop abusers. And she will warn that 1,000 officers should not be cut from policing next year, as resources for child protection are badly needed.

New tougher powers for the police to stop abusers

·         A Labour Government will bring in new stronger police to allow the police to prevent an adult from contacting or communicating with a child if there is evidence of abuse, sexual exploitation or grooming.
·         The new measure is part of a wider package of reforms to focus efforts on preventing abuse, putting in place stronger deterrents and making it easier to bring criminal sanctions against abusers.
·         Labour will strengthen the law so that Child Abduction Warning Notices or Sexual Risk Orders can be used in all cases when the police are concerned a child may be at risk of sexual exploitation – with tough criminal sanctions if a suspected abuser attempts to make contact with them again.
·         Currently Child Abduction Warning Notices have no criminal sanction for a breach - meaning abusers are getting away with it. Sexual Risk Orders require evidence of an “act of a sexual nature” having taken place – meaning the child has already been abused. Labour’s changes will make it easier for police to prevent contact between children and suspected abusers and to pursue criminal proceedings if this is ignored.
·         Professor Jay’s report into Rotherham CSE found that though abduction notices were used, there was no criminal justice sanction involved and no abusers brought to justice: “Operation Czar, begun in 2009, led to the issuing of abduction notices, but no convictions. Operation Chard in 2011 led to abduction notices and 11 arrests but no convictions.”
·         These new powers would also send a powerful message to the authorities that interventions are available and victims should not be criminalised. In one shocking case uncovered by Professor Jay in her report into Rotherham CSE, an 11 year old child was identified at risk of child sexual exploitation, but no action was taken. A month later, she was found in a derelict house with another child, and a number of men. She was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. None of the men were arrested.
·         Labour will be voting to establish this tougher new regime through Child Abduction Warning Notices and Orders today in an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill – led by Sarah Champion MP and the Labour frontbench.
·         But the Shadow Home Secretary will make clear today, if Conservative and Liberal Democrats oppose this move, a Labour Government will introduce it as early as possible after the election.
The Shadow Home Secretary will say: “This afternoon MPs from all Parties have an opportunity to introduce new powers to help protect children that can be brought into force now. Powers that would make it easier for police who suspect abuse, police who know children are in danger, police who won’t take the risk of allowing adults who may be abusers to contact children at risk. These are important powers that would make a difference. If Conservative and Lib Dem MPs won’t do the right thing today, a Labour Government will.”

And she will welcome the eventual start of the child abuse inquiry under Lowell Goddard and say how important it is that it gives survivors a voice, gets to the truth over serious allegations of cover ups at the highest level, and makes recommendations for child protection in future. But she will say that reform cannot wait until the inquiry is completed, because the scale of the problem is too great.

A New Child Protection Unit in the heart of Government
·         A Labour Government will set up a new Child protection unit to improve standards in all agencies involved in keeping children safe and bringing those who abuse children to justice. The new Unit will put prevention, earlier intervention, stronger deterrence, and a firm pursuit of offenders at the heart of child protection.
·         The Unit will be jointly run by the Home Office and Department for Education, but will work across Government to promote a more joined-up approach between Departments and to encourage more collaboration and information-sharing at a local level between police and other agencies
Yvette Cooper will say:

“There is a terrible gap between the scale of the problem and the strength of our collective response - a terrible gap between the abuse and harm caused, and the response from Government, the authorities and society.

“We need a sea change in our attitudes, a revolution in our systems of protecting children. No more drift, no more fudge, no more excuses. Child abuse is a terrible abuse of power - an abuse of the power adults have over children, to groom them, exploit them, harm them and silence them.

“We need to make sure every child matters and every child is heard. And we need to go further. Challenging the sexism and class prejudice that means exploited teenage girls are just dismissed as prostitutes. Challenging the homophobia and stigma that makes it hard for abused teenage boys to ask for help. Challenging the racism involved in the exploitation of girls in Rotherham, as well as the way community and cultural excuses were used not to pursue exploitation and crime.

“It has to become a major priority with leadership from across government - with more support for children, stronger prevention, stronger protection, and stronger pursuit of criminals to bring them to justice.

“We will set up a new child protection unit between the Home Office and Department for Education, also drawing on Health, Communities and Local Government and Justice to drive changes needed.”

Local collaboration
·         Police forces are struggling to keep up with the scale of the problem. Labour is today publishing new FOI analysis, and separate reporting from HMIC, showing huge increases in demand for police attendance at child protection meetings. These are intended to bring together representatives from all local agencies involved in protecting a child, if it is felt there is significant risk of harm to that child.
·         This analysis shows more conferences are going ahead without police officers, with some forces attending fewer meetings year on year, and others forces not recording any information about their attendance.
·         This raises serious concerns about how effective child protection conferences are and the capacity within police forces to fully respond when risks to children are raised.
·         It comes on top of evidence from individual forces suggesting that in some areas 25% of neighbourhood policing resources are now allocated towards the prevention of child sexual exploitation, that the cost of child protection investigations to forces has gone up substantially at a time when budgets have been heavily cut, and that there are long delays in pursuing online abuse cases.
Yvette Cooper will say:

“The police and social services are overwhelmed. They have switched resources into child protection but it’s still not enough

“One force told me a quarter of their neighbourhood policing was now focused on child sexual exploitation. Another told me ten percent of their total resources were now focused on safeguarding. Another said they have had to double the resources going into child protection investigations even though their budgets are being heavily cut.

“But even with this extra effort, they are not reaching huge numbers of vulnerable children, and they are not investigating much of the serious crime reported to them.”

She will add: “Now is not the time to cut another 1000 officers next year, or to go ahead with the scale of officer cuts they plan.

“We have already identified savings – including abolishing police and crime commissioners, and improving procurement, to stop the 1000 officers being cut next year. And more can be done to protect the frontline. The Government needs to recognise the scale of the heavy new strains on policing - including child protection, extremism and online crime - and the need for more action, not less, to protect our children.”

Recognising the scale of online child abuse
·         The Shadow Home Secretary will say that, just as people turned a blind eye to child abuse in care homes, in the BBC and the NHS or child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxfordshire, we are now turning a blind eye to online child abuse
·         She will point to reports suggesting the National Crime Agency has details of between 20,000 – 30,000 people who have accessed child abuse images, and have investigated less than 1,000.
·         She will also highlight long delays in passing on intelligence on online child abusers to local police forces. In the case of Myles Bradbury, a paediatrician from Cambridge, the delay of over a year, meant children were placed at unnecessary risk.
·         She will warn that the Government is still withholding important information on the scale of online abuse cases reported to the police and NCA, and the extent of delays in investigating them, both nationally and locally and she will call on the Home Secretary to publish details.
Yvette Cooper will say:

“The scale of online abuse is deeply disturbing - and no one knows how many of those downloading abusive images of children are also involved in contact abuse.

“Yet far too few of these cases are being investigated, and long delays a putting children at risk. The Government won’t even admit the scale of the problem.

“We are making the same kinds of mistakes all over again.

“Looking back everyone throws their hands up in horror over past abuse in care homes, or by Saville in the NHS. We all ask why people didn’t act, why they thought it was too difficult to intervene when children’s safety was at risk, why they swept the problem under the carpet.

“Yet that is exactly what is happening now. There is now a major problem with known cases of online abuse are not being investigated because it’s seen as too difficult. No one will admit to the scale of the problem, and it is being swept under the carpet as a result.

“Myles Bradbury was an awful case of abuse which continued for too long because of delays. But I am worried it will prove the tip of the iceberg

“The form and pattern of abuse may be changing with growing abuse online. But the form and pattern of society’s failure to move fast enough to protect our children looks remarkably similar.

“I’m calling on the Home Secretary to urgently audit and publish information on the scale of the problem and the extent of delays.”