Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Cooper told MPs that the government would include mandatory reporting measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, to be put before parliament in the spring.
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Analysis: Jury out on proposed mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
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Special report: Child sexual exploitation
The measures will make it an offence to fail to report or to cover up child sexual abuse, with professional and criminal sanctions for those convicted of breaking the law.
“I first called for this measure in response to the reports and failings in Rotherham 10 years ago,” said Cooper. “The Prime Minister first called for it 12 years ago, based on his experience as director of public prosecutions. The case was clear then, but we have lost a decade and we need to get on with it now.”
Introducing a statutory duty on individuals working with children to report child sexual abuse about which they have received a disclosure or which they have witnessed themselves was a key recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which ran from 2015 to 2022.
The previous government held a consultation on the issue but ruled against introducing such measures, with the Home Office considering “referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service (and professional regulators where applicable) to be a more appropriate outcome” than criminal penalties for those found to have failed to report concerns.
At the time, children’s services leaders warned introducing mandatory reporting could lead to a “dramatic increase in referrals and risk overwhelming the systems already in place to protect children”.
The Home Secretary’s announcement follows calls from opposition MPs for a new national inquiry into child sexual abuse – which the government has resisted.
Cooper said the Jay inquiry had engaged more than 7,000 victims and survivors, processed 2 million pages of evidence, and published 61 reports and publications. She also cited findings from a 2014 report by Jay and Dame Louise Casey into the abuse of 1,400 children in Rotherham which identified a failure by agencies to confront Pakistani heritage gangs for fear of being seen to be racist.
Cooper said: “Despite those different inquiries drawing up multiple recommendations, far too little has actually been done. None of the 20 recommendations from the independent inquiry into child abuse has been implemented.
“That is why this government are determined to act, strengthening the law, taking forward recommendations from independent inquiries, and supporting stronger police action and protection for victims.”
In addition to introducing mandatory reporting, Cooper said the government would legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, and overhaul the information and evidence that are gathered on child sexual abuse and exploitation and embed them in a clearer performance framework for policing.
She also pledged to unveil a “significant package of measures” to strengthen the law to tackle grooming and child abuse online, in particular the creation of artificial intelligence-facilitated child sexual abuse material.
- CYP Now is holding a Safeguarding Children in the Digital Age conference on 22 and 23 January 2025.
