Recommendation 19: Nottingham harmful sexual behaviour evaluation
From Children in the Care of the Nottinghamshire Councils Investigation Report, published 31 July 2019.
Recommendation
Nottingham City Council and its child protection partners should commission an independent, external evaluation of their practice concerning harmful sexual behaviour, including responses, prevention, assessment, intervention and workforce development. An action plan should be set up to ensure that any recommendations are responded to in a timely manner and progress should be reported to City's Safeguarding Children Partnership.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry asked Nottingham City Council to commission an independent evaluation of practice regarding harmful sexual behaviour. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported in a web page archived in October 2022 that the council stated in July 2021 that the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) had undertaken an independent external evaluation of its practice (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The Inquiry recorded in that October 2022 update that an action plan had been developed to disseminate learning and recommendations (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). In the same October 2022 update, the Inquiry noted the council's September 2020 statement that audit findings were broadly positive, but the record does not mention prevention, assessment, intervention, or workforce development (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Nottingham City Council has been found in the sources searched (last checked 2 October 2026). This is separate from the response above.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (20 October 2022)
On 26 September 2019, Nottingham City Council produced a draft action plan to address these recommendations for agreement by the Safeguarding Children Partnership on 30 September, and noted that it would be approved by the Executive Board at its meeting in October 2019. On 30 January 2020, Nottingham City Council stated that it intends to commission an independent review into the practices and response regarding peer abuse between children in care. The review will be commissioned by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), in response to the Inquiry’s recommendation and will be agreed with partners on 30 September. On 22 September 2020, Nottingham City Council stated that individual agencies have responded to the independent external evaluation of the Council’s practice against the Harmful Sexual Behaviour Framework. A video conference was held with the NSPCC on 23 June to discuss findings and agree how best to disseminate learning and recommendations to the safeguarding partnership. Nottingham City Council stated that the findings of the audit were broadly positive about local practice. On 29 July 2021, Nottingham City Council stated that the NSPCC undertook an independent external evaluation of its practice in relation to harmful sexual behaviour. The NSPCC identified opportunities for further strengthening and an action plan was developed to disseminate learning and recommendations.
From: Recommendations - Children in the Care of the Nottinghamshire Councils investigation report
Site note: These are the Inquiry's own words, from its recommendations page for the Children in the Care of the Nottinghamshire Councils investigation report, captured by the Internet Archive on 20 October 2022. They are the Inquiry's account of what the body told it, not the body's own words.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
Finding