Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to paragraph 37 of the document Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation, published by the Government in March 2015, what progress her Department has made on the establishment of a national task force of specialist professionals to support local authorities where child sexual exploitation is a particular concern.

The Government’s ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ report launched in March 2015 announced the establishment of a new national taskforce to help local areas faced with significant concerns relating to high volumes of child sexual exploitation.

We are currently finalising the way the taskforce, to be known as the Child Sexual Exploitation Response Unit, will work. The Response Unit will be launched in the Spring.

The Response Unit will provide help to local areas experiencing particular issues and/or high volumes of child sexual exploitation cases by offering a range of support including advice from expert practitioners who have first-hand experience of tackling child sexual exploitation.