Camden Nursery Sexual Abuse Case

Debate between Jas Athwal and Bridget Phillipson

Thursday 4th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

The right hon. Gentleman raises a number of important points, and he is right to thank the police for their thorough work in what has been an extremely complex and harrowing investigation. I pay tribute to all those who have been involved to this point in supporting the victims and families, and to those who will be involved in taking forward further work in this area.

The right hon. Gentleman is also right to draw attention to the scale of child sexual abuse that we still sadly see in our country. Before I came to this House, I worked with many of those who had been affected by child sexual abuse, and I understand the lifelong impact it can have on many people. I understand also that for a very long time, we have not been serious enough as a society about encouraging those who have experienced appalling abuse, including in childhood, to seek the support and advice that they will need, often for many years into the future. A key issue that we have often faced in that regard has been the fact that children, when they have come forward to report abuse, have not always been believed by those in positions of authority, and that has to change. The culture shift that is required is as important as any legislative measures that we need to take, so that children are believed when they report abuse. We need action to follow so that those in positions of authority face consequences for their actions and their failure to take forward allegations by children and others.

The right hon. Gentleman also refers to the appalling scale of what we see online. We will continue to work with Home Office colleagues on this issue, and I will look carefully at what he said about the development of the child protection authority. We will set out more details to the House in due course and update Members in this area, alongside a consultation that will allow views about the best way forward to be aired.

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, and for the urgency and respect that she has shown this particular case. May I put on the record that I agree with the sentiments of this House about the urgency with which we need to deal with this particular case and potential future cases, which we must stop?

The police have to be commended, but the trigger point was the whistleblower—that is where it started. We have to look at two things, because the pain that is being suffered by the parents is unimaginable, and the trauma of the children will be felt for years and generations to come. Can the Secretary of State assure me that unregistered, unregulated settings are looked at very quickly and that the lessons learned from this particular case are shared among all settings across the entire country, so that everybody learns the lessons—not just this particular setting or chain?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I agree very strongly with my hon. Friend. Alongside bringing forward the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are taking a number of important steps to improve safeguarding. The Bill brings forward bold new measures to keep children safe, including a legal obligation for safeguarding partners to work hand in hand with education and childcare settings, because we know that it is often teachers and early years staff who first see the signs of abuse and neglect. That runs alongside the establishment of the child protection authority, a new national body that will have expertise, authority and a single mission: to protect children. Through that work and the development of the child protection authority, we will be in a stronger position to make sure that where there are lessons to learn in individual cases, they are shared and spread much more widely, so that we can keep children safe from harm.

Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Debate between Jas Athwal and Bridget Phillipson

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her statement. In Ilford, our engagement hubs bring together family services, citizens advice, revenues and benefits teams, and enforcement officers—in effect, the council is taken into the community—so I particularly welcome today’s announcement of Best Start family hubs that will operate on a similar model. Will the Secretary of State explore the opportunity to co-locate services as per the Redbridge model, and confirm that trained SEND co-ordinators will be placed in the new hubs to identify needs, work with parents and ensure easy access to early years support?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for identifying the brilliant work that is already going on in his constituency. Through today’s announcement and the “best start in life” strategy, his community and his constituents will see extra investment and more support for precisely the kinds of services he identified. This will be a crucial part of the shift that we make both in education and in health, moving away from treatment to prevention, with more support rooted in communities that it is easier for parents and families to access and that, critically, is focused on delivering the best start in life for all our children.