(Chesterfield) (Lab):
What assessment he has made of the adequacy of police resources
to investigate historical cases of child sexual
exploitation.
The Minister for Policing and the Fire Service (Mr Nick
Hurd): As the Home Secretary has made clear, tackling
the abhorrent crime of child sexual abuse is a priority for the
Government, and this is reflected in the fact that it is one of
six national threats in the strategic policing requirement.
: For victims of historical
child sexual exploitation to come forward, they have to have
confidence that their claims will be not only taken seriously but
tackled with due urgency. A constituent of mine tells me that
South Yorkshire Police has recently merged its historical child
sexual exploitation department with its violent crime department.
This means that whenever a new violent crime comes in, victims of
child sexual exploitation have to wait for their case to be dealt
with. What can the Minister do to ensure that specialism and due
urgency are brought to these cases?
Mr Hurd: I accept the hon. Gentleman’s point
that victims need to have confidence in the police system. That
is why we have agreed to provide grants for specialist operations
in a number of forces, including South Yorkshire Police. Just as
critically, we are investing in prevention and technology to
identify online abuse.
