The government has this week unveiled a wide-ranging and long-overdue package of reforms in response to Baroness Louise Casey’s review into group-based child sexual exploitation.

The Casey Review, commissioned following high-profile grooming scandals across the country – including Yorkshire and Greater Manchester – laid bare years of systemic failings, missed opportunities, and attitudes that allowed children to be blamed, ignored or disbelieved. It is a “damning” report, but one that survivors and campaigners will recognise all too well.

As someone who has spent many years supporting survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation through legal action, I welcome the government’s commitment to act on all 12 of Baroness Casey’s recommendations. We must now hold them to that promise.

“We must see children as children.” This, as Baroness Casey rightly says, is the most important message of all.

Too many survivors have been told they were “in love with” their abuser, or that they “consented” – even when they were just 13, 14 or 15 years old. These harmful narratives have not only contributed to trauma but have also led to charges being downgraded or dropped altogether.

Under the new reforms, the government will bring forward legislation to ensure that adults who engage in penetrative sex with a child under 16 will face the most serious charge of rape – a significant and necessary change.

A National Criminal Operation into Grooming Gangs

The government confirmed that the police will launch a new national operation to tackle group-based child sexual exploitation. This will ensure grooming gangs are treated as serious and organised crime, with the necessary resources and coordination to bring perpetrators to justice.

In recognition of continued denial, delays and failures at a local level, a time-limited public inquiry will also be established. This will have the power to direct investigations and hold institutions to account for past mistakes – something many survivors have long called for.

Final details about the timings are yet to be determined, but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper suggested this may be around three years.

Facing the Facts: Improving Ethnicity Data

The review also highlights the ongoing failure to collect and analyse ethnicity data on offenders, making it harder to understand patterns of offending. The government will now improve data collection, particularly in areas like West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire – where existing evidence shows some offenders have been disproportionately of Pakistani heritage. However, across the country as a whole only two thirds of ethnicity data has been collected.

Importantly, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper acknowledged that the vast majority of people in British Asian and Pakistani communities are appalled by these crimes, and that perpetrators come from a range of ethnic backgrounds – including White British, African, European and Middle Eastern.

Improving Support for Victims and Survivors

The full list of recommendations – all of which have been accepted – include:

• Change the law so adults in England and Wales receive mandatory rape charges if they intentionally penetrate the vagina, anus or mouth of a child under 16
• Carry out a national inquiry and police operation
• Review the criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation, quashing any where victims were criminalised instead of protected
• There are a number of recommendations around improving data collection and sharing, among them are making it mandatory to collect data on the ethnicity and nationality data of all suspects in child sexual abuse cases
• Approach child sexual exploitation investigations like serious and organised crime
• Commission research into the drivers for group-based child sexual exploitation, including online offending, cultural factors and the role of the group
• Improve taxi licensing and take immediate action to put a stop to "out of area taxis"

“Our clients have been denied accountability for too long”

Our team continues to work closely with survivors of grooming and exploitation, many of whom have spent years seeking justice. Their fight is far from over.

As Amy Clowrey, Solicitor and Director in our child abuse compensation department,  explains:

“Our clients have been denied accountability for the failures by councils and police for many years. We hope local inquiries will drill into the detail of failures at a local level and that what is learnt from those inquiries is used in the central national inquiry to better protect future generations of children.

“At the same time, we want to see the IICSA recommendations implemented in full, right now. Those recommendations must not be shelved. Safeguarding can and should be improved immediately, starting with a new Child Protection Authority to promote uniform high standards in child protection.

“It is also important that wraparound support is set up for survivors of abuse as both the local and national inquiries into historical abuse will be incredibly traumatising for many, as it is a topic which is closely followed by the national media.”

This highlights a critical point, change must happen now. Not after the next inquiry. Not after the next headline. But today – starting with safeguarding reforms, survivor support, and real accountability for those who failed to act.

We Will Keep Pushing for Change

While many of the government’s proposals are welcome, we must also acknowledge that this is not the first time we’ve heard these promises. For too long, survivors have witnessed delay, denial, and inaction.

There is a real risk that the current emphasis on investigation – though important – may distract from the urgent need for practical, protective change. We must not wait another three years to make children safer. Safeguarding, support and prevention must start now.

David Greenwood, Head of our Child Abuse Compensation department adds: “The Government pledged to implement all 20 of the IICSA recommendations, yet has only committed to three. This is deeply disappointing. At Switalskis, we remain committed to meaningful reform, including the creation of a national Child Protection Authority to ensure consistently high safeguarding standards, the appointment of a dedicated Cabinet Minister for Children, and better use of DBS checks, among many other vital improvements. The Government continues to say these issues are a priority, but its lack of action tells a different story.”

At Switalskis, we continue to work with survivors of grooming and exploitation, many of whom were failed repeatedly by institutions that should have protected them. Legal action can be a powerful route to justice, closure and change.

If you’ve been affected by abuse, we are here to support you. You are not to blame, and you are not alone.

To speak to one of our specialist child abuse solicitors about your situation in confidence, call us on 0800 1380 458, or contact us through the website.