Crime and Policing Bill

Baroness Grey-Thompson Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2026 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Grey-Thompson]

240: Clause 77, page 104, line 13, leave out from first “relevant” to end of line 14 and insert “local authority.”

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, I have a number of amendments in this group: Amendments 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248B, 263 and 265. I have also added my name to Amendments 257 and 264, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Polak, which I strongly support. Unfortunately, the noble Lord is not able to be in his place today, but I share his concerns about protecting children from harm. These two amendments seek to fill the gap caused by Clause 84, which was raised in Committee, and I believe they are proportionate. The current clause does not cover a multitude of ways in which reports of abuse can be concealed, and it allows many who intentionally conceal to slip through the net.

Clause 84 is triggered only when the person acting to conceal abuse does so by blocking or deterring someone under the new duty from making a report, so the two amendments seek to strengthen what is currently there. It is broader than the current clause, which we believe currently means that it would be a two-tier system. I am not sure how we can justify an offence that would criminalise a teacher but not a religious leader.

Many of the amendments in my name were taken from my Private Member’s Bill on this, but I took some time to consider what should be a priority, and those are Amendments 246 and 248B. For clarity, I will not be seeking to divide on any others in my name in the group, but I would be interested to hear the Minister’s views on Amendments 246 and 248B.

Like others, I have been working on this issue for a number of years. In 2015 the then Sports Minister, Tracey Crouch, asked me to author a report on duty of care in sport. Mandatory reporting was high on the list of issues that needed to be resolved, the other being positions of trust, where the loophole has now partially been closed.

Coaches and volunteers have very positive relationships with young people. These amendments are not to overburden them but to offer protection. Individuals may be worried about reporting so they need more guidance, and a framework of law will do that. No one wants to get it wrong, and we have to be mindful that there may be some malicious reporting.

As a young athlete in my early 20s, I witnessed inappropriate behaviour by a coach—nothing that I could quite put my finger on. You could argue that it was another time when less was known, but we are now seeing a number of historic cases. When I was a young athlete, there was no framework, policy or procedure to be able to raise it. I did not quite have the words to express what I saw, I did not have evidence, I did not witness abuse and there was no direct disclosure, but what I was trying to explain might have triggered greater awareness of this behaviour. I did not know what I now know. Years later, that coach was charged with historic offences in the 1970s and sentenced to seven and a half years in jail.

When the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was announced, I expected much movement. In March 2020 the Office for National Statistics estimated that 3.1 million adults in England and Wales experienced sexual abuse before the age of 16. IICSA concluded that child sexual abuse was endemic and permeated all sections of society, and it estimated that more than one in six girls and one in 20 boys have been sexually abused in the UK every year. On average, it takes victims 26 years to disclose abuse.

The IICSA report is quoted in the equality impact assessment saying that current arrangements are confusing, unfocused and ineffective. The Local Government Association estimates that only one in three children who are sexually abused by an adult tell someone. According to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, it is estimated that 85% of child sexual abuse goes undetected and unreported. Our system is failing the victims of child sexual abuse, and changes need to be made.

I do not believe that His Majesty’s Government’s proposals go far enough and may make the public think that the IICSA mandatory reporting recommendations are being acted on. I do not believe it will make enough of a difference. The key item in the equality impact assessment is table 1 in paragraph 31, on page 9. Given that the Children’s Commissioner for England estimated in 2015 that only one in eight cases of abuse comes to the attention of the authorities, an increase in reports of 0.3% would bring the proportion of unreported cases from 87.5% all the way down to 87.46%. An increase of 0.3% in the numbers of reports would bring the proportion of reported abuse up from 12.5% to 12.54%.

I will not attempt to pre-guess what the Minister might say, but I am imagining a response that it might stop adults wanting to work with children. That is why I looked at Amendment 246, which would make non-reporting a criminal offence. This was recommended by IICSA to provide for defences in situations where there is reasonable doubt concerning the grounds for suspicion. There are criminal sanctions in many countries—Australia, Croatia, Canada, France and most US states.

It has been a pleasure to work on this issue with the honourable Member for North West Cambridgeshire, Sam Carling MP, who wrote the brilliant Amendment 248B. He also has an adjournment debate tonight on this very topic, and I look forward to that. I thank him for venturing down to our end of the building to sit and listen to this debate. I think both of us would prefer a criminal offence, but I am trying to be pragmatic. The proposed new clause in Amendment 248B seeks to ensure that civil sanctions can be imposed for failure to comply with the duty to report suspected child sex offences. Sam Carling has met the NSPCC, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which all want to see His Majesty’s Government criminalise the intentional concealment of abuse. He has also met a number of other organisations.

The NSPCC is deeply concerned that the professional sanctions proposed by the Government as the only consequence of non-compliance are not enough. While not wanting sanctions that would lead to a criminal record, it very much wants stronger civil sanctions, including potential fines. Based on these conversations, Sam’s amendment, which I have tabled, describes how civil sanctions would work based on Home Office fine-issuing powers in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act.

The NSPCC said:

“The use of civil sanctions for failing to make a report under the mandatory duty is supported by the NSPCC. It is their belief that civil and professional sanctions strike the right balance between giving this duty the teeth it needs to ensure compliance, and also framing it as a tool meant to uplift and empower our child protection workforce and volunteers”.


The NSPCC feels strongly that the mandatory reporting duty should include reasonable suspicion as a trigger.

Further, two of the IICSA panel members, Sir Malcolm Evans and Ivor Frank, wrote to the Home Secretary on Friday urging her to change course on these issues. They are concerned that the only sanction proposed for the failure to report child sexual abuse under the duty in this Bill is a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service. They said:

“This falls far below what was recommended. Many of the organisations which our report criticised for failing to safeguard children from abuse rely extensively on volunteers who are often not DBS checked or regulated … DBS referral is already a requirement for regulated activity providers when it comes to those believed to pose a risk to children, and it is a criminal offence to fail to do so. We are therefore calling on the Government to, at the very least, implement stronger civil sanctions for failure to comply with the duty”.


They reported no evidence of the “chilling effect” that would discourage people from wanting to work with children. It simply is not there. They go on to urge His Majesty’s Government to strengthen the duty in the Bill to better deliver on the promises they have repeatedly made to implement IICSA.

My final point is about Amendment 262, which is not in my name but in those of the noble Baronesses, Lady Walmsley and Lady Brinton. If they seek to divide the House, I would very strongly support their amendments as well. I beg to move.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD)]

My Lords, I apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, for missing the beginning of her speech on Amendment 240. However, I have checked with the clerk and I believe it is in order that I speak to my amendments in this group.

Since this is Report, I will not repeat the arguments I made on these and similar amendments in Committee. I will describe what each of my four amendments does and pray in aid not only the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse but a letter, which I will quote from, that members of the board of IICSA wrote to the Home Secretary on Friday last. Having spent seven years hearing evidence about CSA and the reasons why it has been hidden, and having reported in 2022, they were very disappointed when this Bill was published, and even more disappointed when they heard the Minister’s rejection of the measures in these amendments in Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

As I said to noble Lords who raised the issue, we will look at and respond to the letter from the IICSA members, but I have not seen it, I have not got it in front of me and I am not going to respond to it today, even if it is passed to me, because I have to have some collective discussion with colleagues about the points that are raised. I just say to my noble friend that what the Government have tried to do since 4 July 2025—again, I pray in aid the statement, if he has not looked at it, of 9 April 2025 —is to meet the objectives of IICSA as far as we can. We have met an awful lot of the objectives that have been set, and they are before the House in the legislation today.

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

I apologise that the Minister has not seen the letter. If I had realised that he had not seen it, I would have made sure he did. I recognise that it is difficult for him to respond to a letter that he has not seen. Will the Minister make a commitment at the Dispatch Box that, if I do not move Amendment 248B, we will be able to have a discussion and I will be able to bring the amendment back at Third Reading, if we are not able to find a suitable route through?

[Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab)]

I always try to be helpful, if I can. I do not want to have amendments at Third Reading, and therefore I cannot help the noble Baroness with that request. As I say, I have not seen the letter. It is in the ether of the Home Office system. It has arrived, so it will be acknowledged and responded to. But it was issued only on Friday, as the noble Baroness mentioned; to be fair to the Home Office, that is an issue that we will have to look at. Obviously, we will respond to that letter. I will make sure that both the noble Baronesses, Lady Walmsley and Lady Grey-Thompson, have the response, if appropriate, because they have raised it today. I will check with IICSA that it is happy for me to do so—that is important.

The further amendments in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Polak, and the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, and Amendment 248A in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, also seek to supplement or remove the criminal offence of preventing a reporter carrying out their duty. Amendments 264 and 248A would provide for proposed thresholds that, again, I cannot accept. The proposed thresholds—when a person “suspects” abuse has taken place, even if that suspicion is poorly founded, the alleged offence never occurred or the relevant concealment actions had no actual effect—are far broader, and harder to justify or prosecute, than interference with a well-known statutory duty. The Government’s preferred model for this type of offence is narrowly targeted, purpose driven and clearly aligned.

On Amendment 265 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, on protection for reporters, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 already provides a legal framework for protecting child abuse whistleblowers from dismissal, victimisation or other workplace detriments. Attempting to legislate against, for example, social shunning, reputational harm or informal exclusion would pose significant legal and practical problems.

This Government have progressed the recommendations on IICSA in a significant way since 4 July 2024 when we took office—the House may disagree; that is a matter for the House to take a view on. Beforehand, there was a significant gap of inactivity for a range of reasons that I will not talk about today. We have put potential measures in the Bill, and we have made, through a range of other measures to which I referred earlier, a significant amount of progress on these issues.

I accept that there may be issues that are still being pressed, but the progress that has been made is significant. Therefore, I ask the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, to withdraw her amendment and I invite the House to support the government amendments I introduced earlier.

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, I thank everyone who has taken part in this short debate. I am glad that the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, was able to speak. She has worked extensively in this area for decades, and I have leant heavily on her expertise. The noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, makes the strongest point on the unusual nature of a board writing to the Home Secretary. As I previously said, I am sorry that the Minister has not been able to see that. On page 1 of the letter, paragraph 2 says:

“we are deeply concerned that the mandatory reporting duty, as currently drafted in the Crime and Policing Bill, does not fully reflect our recommendation. In particular, there is: a lack of appropriate sanction for failure to report; an insufficient definition of who should be a mandated reporter; and a narrow trigger for the duty that does not include reasonable suspicion and recognised indicators of abuse”.

I go with the opinion of Sir Malcolm Evans and Ivor Frank and, as much as this Government have moved things on, they have not moved things on far enough. While I am happy not to press my Amendments 240 to 246, when it is called I will seek to divide the House on Amendment 248B.

Amendment 240 withdrawn.

--- Later in debate ---

Moved by

[Baroness Grey-Thompson]

248B: After Clause 77, insert the following new Clause—
“Penalty for failure to uphold duty to report suspected child sex offences(1) The Secretary of State may give a person who acts contrary to section 77 (duty to report suspected child sex offences) a notice requiring them to pay a penalty of a specified amount not exceeding the prescribed maximum.(2) The Secretary of State must issue, and from time to time revise and re-issue, a code of practice specifying factors to be considered by them in determining the amount of a penalty imposed under this section, as well as factors which they will use to assess if the issuance of a penalty would be in the public interest.(3) A penalty notice must—(a) state why the Secretary of State thinks the person is liable to the penalty,(b) state the amount of the penalty,(c) specify a date, at least 28 days after the date specified in the notice as the date on which it is given, before which the penalty must be paid,(d) specify how the penalty must be paid,(e) explain how the person may make an appeal against the penalty, and(f) explain how the Secretary of State may enforce the penalty.(4) Any person in receipt of a penalty notice under this section may appeal to the county court on the ground that they are not liable to the imposition of a penalty because—(a) they are not required to comply with the duty to report child sex offences under section 77,(b) a relevant exemption from that section applies,(c) a report under the duty was made and therefore the penalty was issued in error, or(d) the amount of the penalty is too high.(5) The court may—(a) allow the appeal and cancel the penalty,(b) allow the appeal and reduce the penalty, or(c) dismiss the appeal.(6) An appeal shall be a re-hearing of the Secretary of State's decision to impose a penalty, and shall be determined having regard to— (a) the code of practice under this section that has effect at the time of the appeal, and(b) any other matters which the court thinks relevant (which may include matters of which the Secretary of State was unaware).(7) An appeal must be brought within 28 days of the date the notice was received by the person upon whom it was issued.(8) A penalty under this section is recoverable as if it were payable under an order of the county court. Where action is taken to recovery a penalty under this section, the penalty is to be treated for the purposes of section 98 of the Courts Act 2003 (register of judgments and orders etc) as if it were a judgment entered in the county court.(9) Money paid to the Secretary of State by way of penalty must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.”Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment seeks to ensure that civil sanctions can be imposed for failure to comply with the duty to report suspected child sex offences.

[Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)]

My Lords, I wish to test the opinion of the House.