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Safeguarding Children (Sexual Exploitation)

I congratulate the hon. Member for Totnes (Mr. Steen) on securing the debate. I did not agree with the beginning of his contribution, when he painted a picture of despair generally for children in British society. However, rather than engage with him on that—I am sure that I shall have future opportunities to do so—I want to go to the heart of his contribution and those made by the hon. Members for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) and for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton). It is clear that the issues transcend the normal political banter and debate that often characterise much of our proceedings. As the hon. Member for Totnes said, sexual exploitation of children is, regrettably, not new, and its development into a global phenomenon with trafficking is a worrying extension. As the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham said, we are becoming much better at identification, although there is still a long way to go in connecting that with prosecution. Many important points have been made, and I am grateful to the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole for acknowledging the importance of the new guidance and the presumption requirement in that guidance. Partnership and appropriately trained staff, working together across all the boundaries, are crucial to responding to the challenge. The hon. Member for Totnes is a tireless campaigner against the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, and has enormous expertise in and understanding of the matter. As a new Minister in this area, I listened carefully to the passion with which he addressed it. I am sure that he agrees that the Government have tried to make progress by recognising that the first priority must be to keep all children in this country safe. Safeguarding the needs of exploited children is vital, but that requires us to ensure, as the hon. Gentleman rightly said, that agencies work together to protect them. He knows that the Government have set out how that should happen in guidance, "Working Together to Safeguard Children", to which he referred, and in supplementary guidance, "Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation", which was published this month and builds on that work. As the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole said, it is intended that the guidance will help local agencies to ensure that they work together on the matters addressed by the hon. Gentleman and to develop local prevention strategies, to identify vulnerable young people who may be at risk of sexual exploitation, to take action to safeguard children who may be sexually exploited and to take action against anyone who is intent on abusing young people. The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham touched on the challenging dimension of the internet: communication and grooming and the circulation for profit or otherwise of images. Collecting evidence to ensure prosecution is challenging, and I agree that, whenever possible, we need a global response, but cutting off tentacles whenever we can must be an important part of our strategy. The guidance ensures that local authorities and the police have a statutory duty to work with local safeguarding children's boards, practitioners and others working with young people. That is precisely the point that the hon. Member for Totnes was making. It is about bringing together that expertise, so that, with the added value, we can take forward the tasks that have been identified. From everything that the Government have undertaken, it is clear that they believe that the exploitation of children should not be regarded as a criminal act by the children or young people. They are the victims of the crime and not the perpetrators. I listened very carefully to the point that the hon. Gentleman and others made about the age of 10. I have examined the Government's response on that matter with regard to the importance of maintaining the current law and the necessity of providing, in exceptional circumstances, police intervention to protect the child. I do not have an answer right now, and I do not think that he does either. He outlined his objective, but we need to define how, practically, we can deliver it. I am more than happy to meet him to explore the true challenges in getting that balance right. We do not disagree about the objective, but there are differing expert views on the best way to deliver it.