Authorities should work presuming child abuse allegations are true

Public and prosecuting authorities should work on the presumption that what young people say “is true and not false” when investigating child sexual exploitation allegations, a justice minister has said.

Minister of state for justice and civil liberties Simon Hughes told the Commons the failing in the past had been that young people “have not been listened to and heard and when they have spoken out people haven’t believed them”.

His comments came in response to a question from Conservative MP Bob Blackman (Harrow East) relating to a report published by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

Mr Blackman said that the report detailed the “catastrophic failure of all public services” to actually protect vulnerable young girls, adding it was also quite clear that “it is not an isolated case” in Rotherham.

Mr Blackman said: “Now what is apparent is that the victims have not been provided with the support they require and they were not believed by the authorities and were not protected when issues came to court.

“What further action can he propose that will ensure that the victims of this are given the support and the protection through the justice system.”

Lib Dem Mr Hughes responded: “The failing in the past has been young people have not been listened to and heard and when they have spoken out people haven’t believed them, and the presumption that we have to have both in terms of public authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service and the rest of the prosecuting authorities is the presumption that when they say something, it is true and not false and you work on that basis.”

The Government, he said, was “absolutely committed to making sure that the law is as tough as needs be to deal with this very serious evil”.

He added: “We’ve taken action to enable the police to intervene earlier to protect children where there is a suspicion that grooming has taken place, as a result of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 which amended section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, we’ve reduced from two to one the number of initial occasions on which the defendant meets or communicates with a child considered at risk before prosecution can take place.”

Children’s care watchdog Ofsted failed to uncover widespread sexual abuse in Rotherham because it took the word of local authority staff, MPs found.

The Communities and Local Government Committee said inspectors focused on whether paperwork was in order rather than examining the practical care of youngsters.

The cross-party group also cautioned that Ofsted still appeared to be a “reactive organisation” instead of one that would detect the “next class of serious failure”.

The committee looked at the institutional problems that allowed more than 1,400 children to be subjected to rape, violence and trafficking in the area over a 16-year period.

Its report concluded that Ofsted’s inquiries had been “too short and narrowly focused”, and relied on the “appearance of, and paperwork describing, Rotherham’s systems rather than the actuality”.

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