Update CSE guidance with network information
The Department for Education should review and publish an updated version of its guidance on child sexual exploitation. The update should specify that the core element of the definition of child sexual exploitation is that a child was controlled, coerced, manipulated or deceived into sexual activity. It should also include detailed information on: the role of the internet in the perpetration of child sexual exploitation; and how to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation perpetrated by networks of offenders. The Welsh Government should also update its guidance on child sexual exploitation to provide detailed information on how to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation perpetrated by networks of offenders.
- The Department for Education published updated Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance in December 2023 (Working Together to Safeguard Children, HM Government, December 2023).
- No published standalone updated guidance on CSE specifying that the core definitional element is exploitation rather than exchange has been identified to March 2026.
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartOn 30 June 2022, the UK government provided the Inquiry with its provisional response to this recommendation. The UK government stated its final response to this recommendation would be provided within six months of the report's publication date, by 1 August 2022, and it will then be available on the Inquiry's website. On 30 June 2022, the Welsh Government stated that it would consider what amendments may be needed to its Working Together to Safeguard People guidance. It also stated that work to develop further practice advice on the identification and response to risk of or abuse through child sexual exploitation would include detailed advice on how to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation perpetrated by networks of offenders.
Progress Timeline
April 2025 government progress update: the Home Secretary announced updating the guidance on child sexual exploitation to ensure advice for those working with children remains relevant and informed by the latest available evidence.