Terms of reference: Report on the progress made against recommendations in our 2023 inspection of the police response to child sexual exploitation in England and Wales

Background

On 24 January 2025, the Home Secretary wrote to us requesting a progress report on addressing the nine recommendations in our 2023 report, An inspection of the effectiveness of the police and law enforcement bodies’ response to group-based child sexual exploitation in England and Wales.

We will examine the progress all forces and other law enforcement bodies have made to address our recommendations. We will also assess the changes they have made in response to the area for improvement we issued.

In particular, we will:

• inspect all police forces in England and Wales and the National Crime Agency for their progress in addressing our recommendations;
• consult with the College of Policing, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Home Office, the Department for Education and the Welsh Government about their progress in addressing our recommendations;
• assess the extent to which chief constables have made sure their forces have problem profiles for child sexual exploitation that include an assessment of the nature and extent of group-based child sexual exploitation and data from local partner agencies;
• assess the extent to which chief constables and the relevant business user groups for police record management systems have made sure that there are measures in place to identify group-based child sexual exploitation;
• assess the quality of forces’ investigations and their attitudes to victims of group-based child sexual exploitation;
• establish whether there are any barriers to addressing our recommendations; and
• recommend further action or inspection if needed.

We will report our findings to the Home Secretary.

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Terms of reference: Report on the progress made against recommendations in our 2023 inspection of the police response to child sexual exploitation in England and Wales