Current status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 16 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 44 action points set out in the July 2020 publication, National Action Plan to Prevent and Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation 2016-2020, have been (a) delivered and (b) fulfilled.
The National Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group published its final report on delivery of actions contained in the National Action Plan to Tackle Child Sexual Exploitation in July 2020. This sets out the range of achievements and activity to prevent and tackle child sexual exploitation delivered since the publication of the updated National Action Plan on Child Sexual Exploitation in 2016 as well as ongoing improvement and development work related to the actions in the updated plan. For further information on how the Scottish Government has continued to deliver action on child sexual abuse and exploitation since this period, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32827 on 16 January 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
Following publication of the final report, and with the agreement of Ministers, the Working Group concluded its work which was time-limited and linked to the delivery of the Action Plan. However, a number of operational and strategic groups have continued to have a focus on delivery of actions to prevent and tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, including the National Child Protection Leadership Group, Police Scotland’s Multi-agency Group on Preventing Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and Social Work Scotland’s Child Protection Subgroup.
We have subsequently established a new National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Group with operational partners and other expert stakeholders. The Group met for the first time in November 2024 and again in December 2024 and is reviewing current activity and identifying where further work is needed to better protect children from abuse and exploitation.