Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions her Department has had with the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales on the adequacy of sentencing guidelines for child sexual offences in (a) reflecting the severity of the crime and (b) preventing reoffending.

Child sexual abuse and exploitation are the most horrific of crimes and the Government is determined to act to strengthen the law in this area. This is why we have committed to legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor in the sentencing of child sexual offences, to ensure that this behaviour is reflected in the sentencing of perpetrators.  We will also make it a mandatory duty for those working with children to report child sexual abuse – a key recommendation of Professor Alexis Jay’s report – and this will go into the Crime and Policing Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this spring.

As set out in previous responses, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales is independent of Parliament and Government. It therefore decides on its own priorities and work plan for producing and reviewing sentencing guidelines. Sentencing guidelines for child sex offences, including for the offence of meeting a child following sexual grooming, were first published by the Council in 2013. Following consultation, revised guidelines for some child sex offences were published and came into force in May 2022.