Yvette Cooper says professionals who do not report child sexual abuse will face criminal sanctions
7 January 2025, 01:53
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Government will make it "an offence with professional and criminal sanctions to fail to report or cover up child sexual abuse."
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they do not report or if they cover up child sexual abuse claims, Yvette Cooper has said.
The Home Secretary said a ‘significant package of measures’ would be announced by government in the next few weeks to address the online grooming and sexual abuse of children.
It comes amid a wider row about child sexual abuse in the UK, fuelled by calls from Reform UK and Conservative politicians as well as US billionaire Elon Musk’s stream of attacks on the government for their handling of the child sexual abuse scandal.
Ms Cooper has defended her decision not to launch a national inquiry into child sexual abuse. She had previously defended Jess Phillips as a "fearless and formidable" advocate for sexual abuse victims after Elon Musk criticised the safeguarding minister.
The billionaire X owner suggested Ms Phillips "deserves to be in prison" for denying requests for the Home Office to lead a public inquiry into historic child sexual exploitation in Oldham.
Mr Musk also attacked Sir Keir Starmer, saying the Prime Minister failed to bring "rape gangs" to justice when he was director of public prosecutions.
Ms Cooper told the Commons on Monday: "These crimes have not been taken seriously for too long and far too many children have been failed.
She announced that action would be taken on three recommendation from Prof Alexis Jay’s inquiry into child sexual abuse.
The home Secretary said: “First, I can confirm we will make it mandatory to report abuse, and we will put the measures in the Crime and Policing Bill that will be put before Parliament this spring, making it an offence with professional and criminal sanctions to fail to report or cover up child sexual abuse.
Attacking the previous government, she added: "The protection of institutions must never be put before the protection of children. This measure is something I first called for in response to the reports and failings in Rotherham 10 years ago.
“It's something that the Prime Minister first called for 12 years ago based on his experience as director of public prosecutions, and the case was clear then, but we have lost a decade, and we need to get on with it now.”
Ms Cooper also confirmed that Government will be establishing a "victims and survivors panel" to advise on "wider work around child sexual exploitation and abuse", as key demands from Prof Alexis Jay’s child sexual abuse inquiry will be implemented.
She said: “We will also legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, because the punishment must fit the terrible crime.
Ms Cooper also raised concerns about how police forces collect data, describing it as "haphazard", before claiming data published on the ethnicity of perpetrators is not enough.
The Prime Minister weighed in on the debate, defending Jess Phillips on Monday morning in response to Elon Musk's comments.
He said: "Those attacking Jess Phillips, who I am proud to call a colleague and friend, are not protecting victims.
"Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they've ever dreamed about when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse.
"I'm prepared to call this out for what it is... the whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it."
Musk had argued that "rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice", in just one of a string of posts on X.
But Starmer has argued that "more people are interested in the NHS than what happens on Twitter."
He added: "I enjoy the cut and trust of politics, the robust debate that we must have but that has got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies, not on those who are so desperate for attention that they are prepared to debase themselves and their country."
Phillips said she recognised the "strength of feeling" for a Home Office-led inquiry into grooming gangs but the Government will not "intervene", in a letter to Oldham Council.
Speaking out on the matter, Jess Phillips, the government's Safeguarding minister, said: "I believe it is for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the Government to intervene," she said.
Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, appeared to back Musk by calling for a national inquiry into the UK's "rape gangs scandal".
Badenoch, writing on X, argued that a public inquiry into organised grooming gangs is "long overdue".
In her post, Mrs Badenoch wrote: "The time is long overdue for a full national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal.
"Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots. 2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice."
Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has hit out at Elon Musk's messages calling for the US Ambassador to be summoned to explain the tweets.
Responding to Elon Musk’s latest post on X in which he suggested that America should “liberate the people of Britain” and overthrow the government, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
“People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain. It’s time to summon the US ambassador to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown.
America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 6, 2025
“This dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric is further proof that the UK can’t rely on the Trump administration, and it’s in our national interest to rebuild trade and security ties with our allies in Europe.”
An Oldham Council spokesman said: "Survivors sit at the heart of our work to end child sexual exploitation.
"Whatever happens in terms of future inquiries, we have promised them that their wishes will be paramount, and we will not renege on that pledge."
Responding to Mrs Badenoch's post, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: "Talk is cheap. The Conservatives had 14 years in government to launch an inquiry.
"The establishment has failed the victims of grooming gangs on every level."
Prior to this, Mr Musk had written on X: "In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service's approval for the police to charge suspects.
"Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008-2013."
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, which published its final report in 2022, described the sexual abuse of children as an "epidemic that leaves tens of thousands of victims in its poisonous wake".
Led by Professor Alexis Jay, the inquiry looked into abuse by organised groups following multiple convictions of sexual offences against children across the UK between 2010-2014, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol.
In November last year, Professor Jay said she felt "frustrated" that none of the probe's 20 recommendations had been implemented more than two years after its conclusion.
She said: "It's a difficult subject matter, but it is essential that there's some public understanding of it.
"But we can only do what we can to press the Government to look at the delivery of all of this.
"It doesn't need more consultation, it does not need more research or discussion, it just needs to be done."
Reform UK MP for Great Yarmouth Rupert Lowe also called for an inquiry into the issue on Thursday, arguing it has been "disgracefully ignored and suppressed for too long".
Mr Lowe said the British people should be able to "see for themselves the extent of the horror" and that the Government should publish "all detail".
He added: "What is the Home Office currently doing in order to prevent ongoing grooming, rape, exploitation or abuse of young British girls? How many girls are estimated to still be involved with these gangs?
"Will they publish a full nationality breakdown of those convicted for such offences, along with the location of their crimes?"
