Child exploitation criminalisation

#36 — Adopt a statutory definition of Child Criminal Exploitation to ensure consistent application.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We recommend that the Government consider adopting a statutory definition on Child Criminal Exploitation.

Gov response: The Government accepts these recommendations. The Drug Strategy sets out a whole-system approach to tackling county lines, combining targeted law enforcement action with comprehensive measures to reduce demand for drugs and to re-build the drug …

Under Consideration

#98 — Introduce a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation to protect victims and ensure justice.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We are disappointed that the Government does not currently agree that there is compelling evidence to introduce a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation. We urge the Government to read our evidence and to consider introducing a statutory definition to …

Gov response: 98. We have carefully reviewed the previous commitment to provide 12 months of support to confirmed victims of modern slavery and concluded that the existing needs- based approach through the Recovery Needs Assessment (RNA) ensures …

Under Consideration

#97 — Lack of statutory definition for child criminal exploitation causes wrongful prosecutions and inconsistent treatment.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We are deeply concerned that the absence of a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation, and the consequent different interpretations of this crime, leads to children continuing to be prosecuted for crimes committed as a result of exploitation—for example, drug-related …

Gov response: 98. We have carefully reviewed the previous commitment to provide 12 months of support to confirmed victims of modern slavery and concluded that the existing needs- based approach through the Recovery Needs Assessment (RNA) ensures …

Under Consideration

#33 — Vital to keep exploited children and young people out of criminal justice system.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: To tackle county lines, we believe it is vital that the children and young people exploited (or at risk of exploitation) by criminal gangs are kept out of the criminal justice system.

Gov response: The Government accepts these recommendations. The Drug Strategy sets out a whole-system approach to tackling county lines, combining targeted law enforcement action with comprehensive measures to reduce demand for drugs and to re-build the drug …

Accepted

#9 —

Justice Committee

Recommendation: The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is a contentious issue with substantial arguments in favour both of the status quo age of 10 and an increase in that age. We are not persuaded that it should be …

Gov response: 30. The Government does not have any current plans to either review or change the age of criminal responsibility. The Committee acknowledged that there are substantial arguments for the retention of the current minimum age …

Under Consideration

#37 — Pilot inclusion of Prevention Officers within County Lines Taskforces to share good practice.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We welcome the British Transport Police’s efforts to improve responses to child exploitation through the secondment of two Prevention Officers from the Children’s Society. We recommend that the Government work with other police forces with a dedicated County Lines Taskforce …

Gov response: The Government partially accepts this recommendation. The Home Office has committed to funding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) for a further two years, building on over £120m invested since 2019. The NCLCC works …

Partially Accepted

#35 — Link children and young people's drug treatment services with exploitation services for holistic support.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We recommend that the Government work with local partners to link up drug treatment services for children and young people with exploitation services to ensure that they receive holistic support.

Gov response: The Government accepts these recommendations. The Drug Strategy sets out a whole-system approach to tackling county lines, combining targeted law enforcement action with comprehensive measures to reduce demand for drugs and to re-build the drug …

Accepted

#10 —

Justice Committee

Recommendation: We recommend that the Ministry review the age of criminal responsibility, considering the data available from Scotland and from broadly comparable European and other jurisdictions in which the age is higher than 10 at which it stands in England and …

Gov response: 30. The Government does not have any current plans to either review or change the age of criminal responsibility. The Committee acknowledged that there are substantial arguments for the retention of the current minimum age …

Under Consideration

#21 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Whilst the number of children in youth custody across all ethnicities has reduced (by 73%) between 2010–11 and 2020–21, the proportion from ethnic minority backgrounds has increased (from 32% to 53%).54 Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice drew our attention to …

Gov response: 6: PAC conclusion: The Ministry of Justice and Home Office seem to lack curiosity about the increase in the proportion of children from ethnic minority background in youth custody and appear to have no current …

Accepted

#20 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: Between 2010–11 and 2020–21, the number of children cautioned or sentenced for an offence reduced from 85,300 to 15,751 (an 82% reduction) and the number of first- time entrants to the youth criminal justice system reduced from 46,012 to 8,848 …

Gov response: 6: PAC conclusion: The Ministry of Justice and Home Office seem to lack curiosity about the increase in the proportion of children from ethnic minority background in youth custody and appear to have no current …

Accepted

#6 —

Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation: The Ministry of Justice and Home Office seem to lack curiosity about the increase in the proportion of children from ethnic minority background in youth custody and appear to have no current plan to address the situation. While the number …

Gov response: 2023. This is the government’s response to the Committee’s report. Relevant reports • NAO report: Investigation into the management of backlogs in driving licence applications – Session 2022-23 (HC 851) • PAC report: Driving licence …

Not Addressed

#1 —

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Extremism is evolving rapidly and becoming more complex. Long-standing terrorist threats remain but new forms of extremism are emerging and give rise to growing concern. The impact of geo-political events is likely to intensify in light of continuing conflict in …

Response Pending

#32 — Drug strategy requires further action to prevent exploitation of children by county lines.

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: We welcome the 10-Year Drug Strategy’s commitment to rolling up county lines but increasing law enforcement efforts is only one part of the solution. We therefore welcome the strategy’s commitment to reducing demand for drugs and to re- building the …

Gov response: The Government accepts these recommendations. The Drug Strategy sets out a whole-system approach to tackling county lines, combining targeted law enforcement action with comprehensive measures to reduce demand for drugs and to re-build the drug …

Accepted

#9 —

Home Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Prevent is poorly adapted to deal with the digital world. We have outlined how online spaces are now central to the radicalisation process, particularly for young people, yet Prevent lacks the specialist knowledge or framework for identifying and assessing credible …

Response Pending

#7 — Embed a safeguarding approach to prosecute paramilitary activity as modern slavery and exploitation.

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Recommendation: Low prosecution rates for those who commit violent crime can act as a barrier to reporting the crimes of paramilitary groups and serve to perpetuate the impunity with which these groups act. An effective criminal justice system able to identify …

Gov response: The UK Government acknowledges the importance of work to ensure that the Northern Ireland framework for safeguarding children and young people protects those abused by paramilitary or organised crime gangs. This is a policy area …

Not Addressed