Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take through the Tackling Child Exploitation Support programme to support local bodies to disrupt organised networks known as grooming gangs.

The Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme will include support for local safeguarding partners - the police, health and the local authority - to develop and deliver a strategic response to extra-familial harms and child exploitation. The police force(s) in any safeguarding partnership will be responsible for ensuring that any intelligence gathered during safeguarding activity in that area is used to disrupt organised crime gangs involved in grooming.

The Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme will not be focussing directly on individual children and young people - it has been contracted to provide support for partners in local areas with safeguarding responsibilities to develop their capability to provide a better safeguarding response for children in their area. There are many organisations already providing valuable support for direct practice with children and young people and the support programme will signpost local partners to them.