Reports & recommendations
107 recommendations from 16 reports, each with the government response on the record. Filter by government response, report, nation or delivery status.
Reports (16)
Recommendations (5)
National plan for overseas CSA by UK nationals
The Home Office should coordinate the development of a national plan of action addressing child sexual abuse and exploitation overseas by UK nationals and residents of England and Wales, involving input from all lead governmental agencies in the field.
The Inquiry recommended coordinating a national action plan against overseas child sexual abuse. In January 2021, HM Government stated that the Home Office would implement the recommendation within its forthcoming Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy (Home Office response, Jan 2021; Home Office, Jan 2021). It noted that this strategy would set out actions involving the National Crime Agency (NCA), the intelligence community, and the third sector to prevent offending abroad (Home Office response, Jan 2021). In October 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that the department had confirmed implementation through that strategy (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
DBS certificates for overseas work
The Home Office should introduce legislation permitting the Disclosure and Barring Service to provide enhanced certificates to UK nationals and residents of England and Wales applying for: 1. work or volunteering with UK-based organisations, where the recruitment decision is taken outside the UK; or 2. work or volunteering with organisations based outside the UK, in each case where the work or volunteering would be a regulated activity if in the UK.
The Inquiry recommended legislation permitting Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) enhanced certificates for overseas work. In January 2021, HM Government stated that it was "not persuaded" that replacing the International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) with enhanced certificates would make accessing criminal records more effective for overseas employers (Home Office response, Jan 2021; Home Office, Jan 2021). In April 2023, Simon Bailey CBE QPM reported in the Independent Review of the Disclosure and Barring Regime that he found no reason to depart from the government's response, but expected it to review the matter (Simon Bailey CBE, QPM, Apr 2023).
Mandatory DBS for work with children overseas
The Home Office should introduce legislation making it mandatory for: (a) all UK nationals and residents of England and Wales to provide a prospective employer overseas with an enhanced DBS certificate before undertaking work with children overseas which if in the UK would be a regulated activity and (b) UK government departments and agencies to require their overseas partners to ensure that UK nationals and residents of England and Wales obtain an enhanced DBS certificate before undertaking work with children overseas which if in the UK would be a regulated activity.
The Inquiry recommended mandatory criminal record checks for UK nationals working with children overseas. In January 2021, HM Government stated that it would not legislate for mandatory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates because extraterritorial rules would be difficult to monitor and enforce (Home Office response, Jan 2021; Home Office, Jan 2021). In April 2023, Simon Bailey CBE QPM noted in the Independent Review of the Disclosure and Barring Regime that the Inquiry did not repeat this mandatory requirement in its October 2022 final report (Simon Bailey CBE, QPM, Apr 2023).
Guidance on DBS for overseas work
The Home Office should ensure explanatory guidance is issued, providing clarity to recruiting organisations and individuals concerning the use of the Disclosure and Barring Service scheme for work and volunteering outside the UK.
The Inquiry asked the Home Office to clarify overseas Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Writing on behalf of the department in April 2022, Daniel Rapport, for the Treasury Solicitor (Government Legal Department), stated that the service was finalising a guidance leaflet to be published by the end of May (Daniel Rapport, Apr 2022). That update described guidance developed specifically for the aid sector and charities, but did not mention individuals, with publication of the leaflet still outstanding (Daniel Rapport, Apr 2022). In January 2021, HM Government stated that the department would work with the service to reinforce guidance directing applicants ineligible for its certificates to the International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC) (Home Office response, Jan 2021; Home Office, Jan 2021).
High risk countries list for travel orders
The Home Office should bring forward legislation providing for the establishment and maintenance by the National Crime Agency of a list of countries where children are considered to be at high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation from overseas offenders. This list should be kept under regular review. The list of countries should be made available to the police, and used routinely to help identify whether a person who has been charged with sexual offences against a child poses a risk to children overseas based on their travel history and/or plans. If the person is considered to pose a risk of sexual harm to children overseas, the police should submit an application for a foreign travel restriction order under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The list of countries should be admissible in court and used when considering whether a foreign travel restriction order should be made under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and if so, to which countries it should apply.
The Inquiry asked the Home Office to legislate for a high-risk countries list. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, enacted in April 2022, provides that the Secretary of State may prepare, or direct a relevant person to prepare, a list of countries and territories outside the United Kingdom where children are at high risk of sexual abuse or exploitation (Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, section 172: List of countries, Apr 2022). Earlier, in January 2021, HM Government stated in a response published by the department that it accepted the recommendation, had commissioned the National Crime Agency (NCA) to compile the list, and would bring forward legislation when parliamentary time allowed to assist police and courts with foreign travel prohibitions (Home Office response, Jan 2021; Home Office, Jan 2021).