The Labour government’s update on responding to the IICSA inquiry report

In October 2022, Professor Alexis Jay published her independent inquiry report into child sexual abuse (‘the IICSA inquiry report’), which was first commissioned in 2015 and which made twenty recommendations.

Following the IICSA inquiry report in 2022, the previous Conservative government’s response to the report was described as “awful, inconsequential, insubstantial".

In 2024, Oldham Council voted to ask the government to conduct an inquiry into non-recent child sexual exploitation in Oldham.

Oldham Council’s request was denied by Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, who said she believes it is “for Oldham Council alone to decide to commission an inquiry into child sexual exploitation locally, rather than for the government to intervene.”

At the start of 2025, pressure from Conservative MPs and some Labour MPs began to increase on the new Labour government, calling for a public inquiry into grooming gangs, with Elon Musk starting the new year by posting a tirade of tweets attacking the Prime Minister and the British government over the grooming gangs scandal.

On 8th April 2025, the government has now published their update report on how they plan to respond to the recommendations made by Professor Alexis Jay’s 2022 IICSA inquiry report into child sexual abuse.

The government’s update confirms that despite children only making up 20% of the population in England and Wales, they are the victims in 40% of all sexual offences.

The Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey for England and Wales, confirms 7.5% of all adults in England and Wales are estimated to have been sexually assaulted before the age of sixteen, equating to 3.1 million adult victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.

The government’s update sets out the immediate and longer-term steps they propose to take, to act on the IICSA inquiry recommendations to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation more broadly.

Below are the areas the government propose to focus on, whilst seeking to implement the twenty recommendations made in the IICSA inquiry report.

Improving Understanding of the Scale and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse 

Recommendation 1: A single set of core data relating to child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation 

Prioritising the Protection of Children 

Recommendation 2: Establish Child Protection Authorities for England and Wales. 

Recommendation 3: Appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children 

Recommendation 4: Public awareness raising 

Empowering Children and Young People 

Recommendation 5: Prohibit the use of pain compliance techniques on children in custodial institutions. 

Recommendation 6: Amend the Children Act 1989 to give parity of legal protection to children in care. 

Creating a More Protective Environment for Children 

Recommendation 7: Registration of care staff in Children’s Homes. 

Recommendation 8: Registration of staff in young offender institutions and secure training centres. 

Recommendation 9: Extended use of the barred list of people unsuitable for work with children. 

Recommendation 10: Improved compliance with statutory duties to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children. 

Recommendation 11: Extending the disclosure regime to those working with children overseas. 

Identifying and Reporting Child Sexual Abuse 

Recommendation 12: Mandatory online pre-screening for sexual images of children. 

Recommendation 13: Introduction of a statutory requirement of mandatory reporting for child sexual abuse. 

The Justice System Response to Child Sexual Abuse 

Recommendation 14: Compliance with the Victims’ Code 

Recommendation 15: Removal of the three-year limitation period for personal injury claims brought by victims. 

Supporting Victims and Survivors 

Recommendation 16: A national guarantee of specialist therapeutic support for child victims of sexual abuse. 

Recommendation 17: A code of practice for retention of records pertaining to child sexual abuse 

Recommendation 18: Changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 

Recommendation 19: A national redress scheme for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in England and Wales. 

Evolving Challenges 

Recommendation 20: More robust age-verification requirements for the use of online platforms and services.

Whilst the government update sets out some of the immediate and longer-term steps that they propose to take to act on the IICSA recommendations and to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation more broadly, the government has confirmed the update does not represent ‘the final word, or the totality of the important work being driven forward across Government to prevent and respond to these crimes’.

The government’s 25-page update report, which can be located on the link below, sets out the steps the government proposes to take and the dates by which they propose to implement such steps.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-abuse-progress-update