Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel calls for “national action plan” to tackle child sexual abuse

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has called on the Government to put in place “urgently” a national action plan to protect and support children at risk of sexual abuse, and has urged the President of the Family Division and Cafcass to consider the findings of its independent review.

The review, published today (26 November), investigated the experiences of 193 children who were sexually abused by a family member.

It found that over a third of incidents featured a family member with a “known history of sexual offending” or who was “known to present some risk of sexual harm”.

This included convicted sex offenders and family members who had been previously prosecuted for sexual abuse, including rape, moving into a home with young children without a strong risk assessment, authors noted.

The panel warned: “The report reveals a system in which children are all too often ignored or disbelieved.

“[…] Children who are sexually abused are frequently not being identified by practitioners, nor are they receiving the response needed for their ongoing safety and recovery. Problems with identification are of particular concern for disabled children and those from Black and other minoritised communities.”

Among a number of recommendations, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel urged the Government to develop a “national action plan” to tackle child sexual abuse, to include:

• Ensuring that criminal justice and safeguarding agencies work together so there is robust assessment and management of people who present a risk of sexual harm and who have contact with children.
• Updating all relevant national guidance to take account of the findings of this and other relevant previous reviews.
• Taking into account the findings throughout this report on the specific needs of children with a range of characteristics.
• Considering the value of a “national pathway approach” – to provide a clear process to support practitioners from when concerns are first identified through to investigation, assessment and the provision of help.

The report also recommended the President of the Family Division to consider the findings of the review, and “determine what actions are needed to support judicial decision making when children may have been sexually abused”.

Further, the panel invited Cafcass to consider the findings of the review, to improve the arrangements to safeguard children in both private and public law proceedings so that:

• Assessments and advice provided to the family court about what is safe and in children’s best interests, are always informed by a detailed understanding and analysis of information from current and previous safeguarding enquiries, previous proceedings and all current and previous police and local authority information.
• All applications (‘spending time with’ or ‘live with’, or in the case of public law proceedings, arrangements for family time), received by Cafcass and which involve an adult with a known conviction, a served prison sentence for a sexual offence or a current investigation of a sexual offence, involve a “comprehensive and urgent assessment” about the safety of any child in existing and future contact arrangements.

Panel Chair, Annie Hudson said: “The voices and experiences of the 193 children at the heart of this report make very plain that too often we fail to identify and act to protect children from sexual abuse in their families. 

“[…] We need to build a more child-centred system that recognises the barriers preventing children from speaking about abuse and where all agencies can act confidently and sensitively to safeguard children.”

She continued: “The government’s recent policy paper outlines a swathe of reforms to children’s social care, including plans to implement the Panel’s previous recommendation for multi-agency child protection teams. The establishment of such teams will provide a strong basis for securing some the crucial improvements identified in this report, including timely sharing of information, and a more sensitive and coherent response to children who are sexually abused in their families.” 

“The systemic issues identified in this report are long-standing. It is vital therefore that government integrates the findings from this review into their reform programme and provides strong leadership to deliver a robust strategy to address its stark reality of child sexual abuse in the family environment.”

A Government spokesperson said: “Any instance of child abuse is abhorrent, and this report importantly highlights the weaknesses in the system that have shielded abusers and left children at risk of harm.

“As a child-centred government, keeping children safe could not be more important and we are already taking swift action to address these recommendations through our landmark reforms to children’s social care.

“We will require every council to implement a joined-up approach to child protection, strengthen safeguards for home education and improve information sharing, to prevent children falling through the cracks.”

Lottie Winson