It is ironic that in the same week a heated debate involving teenage pregnancy workers, social care professionals and the police has exposed the incoherence of Government policy in this area.
The Government's guidance document Working Together to Safeguard Children makes it clear that while the age of consent is 16, younger teenagers who are engaged in mutually consensual sexual relationships that do not involve abuse or exploitation should not be criminalised.
Ministers gave repeated assurances to the same effect during Parliamentary debates last year on the Sexual Offences Act. Sir Michael Bichard, in his report on the Soham inquiry, made it clear that while it is essential for care professionals and the police to communicate when there are concerns, he did not want to see consensual sex between young people being criminalised.
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