Ceop changes put children at risk, warns former chief
Neil Puffett
Monday, January 10, 2011
Changes to a national organisation tackling child sex abuse could be dangerous, its former chief has said.
Speaking to The Times he said the change could be dangerous and was driven by a recent push to reduce the number of quangos, rather than the best interests of children.
"I would rather resign now and highlight what I believe is a mistake for child protection than find myself resigning in two or three years' time because something had gone horribly wrong and we'd made serious errors," Gamble told The Times.
"It's become less important to save kids than to save face.
"Ceop works because it is about child protection first and foremost, but I'm afraid it is being dragged back into the blue serge of policing."
Gamble’s comments follow a report last week by a group of MPs warning that proposals to scrap quangos, including several in the children's sector, will not save money or improve accountability.
The Home Office said child protection is "an absolute priority" and the government valued the important work carried out by Ceop.
Ceop was set up in 2006.
Its remit includes helping to find and convict paedophiles, keeping children safe online and investigating child trafficking.
It has emerged that experts from Ceop have begun work investigating the grooming of vulnerable teenage girls for sex after the indefinite jailing of two Asian men for abusing girls aged between 12 and 18.
