Prevent referrals for young people has doubled since last summer, says Cooper
But Ms Cooper told MPs on Tuesday: 'I continue to be concerned about the threshold ending up being too high and not enough Islamist extremist cases being referred to Prevent, and the need to do more to make sure more of those cases were being referred to Prevent.'
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North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Nearly 300 historic child grooming gang cases to be looked at again
Some 287 closed cases have been identified so far by police to be looked at again by a national task force on child sexual exploitation, Yvette Cooper told a committee of MPs on Tuesday. In January, the Home Secretary urged chief constables in England and Wales to reopen cold case investigations, as she also announced a rapid review by Baroness Casey to look at the nature and scale of gang-based exploitation across the country. Ms Cooper has also vowed for at least five local inquiries to take place, including in Oldham, Greater Manchester where work is 'under way already'. The series of announcements to tackle child grooming gangs came as the Government faced pressure over the issue, including criticism from billionaire X owner Elon Musk. Ms Cooper told the Home Affairs Select Committee half of police forces have reported back to the Home Office after reviewing past investigations. 'As you will know, I have also always said the most important thing is to get perpetrators behind bars and to make sure that they face justice for these horrendous crimes,' she said. 'I did ask all police forces to review historic cases. 'We've asked them to review cases that were closed, where no further action was taken and where there are cases, to then work with the police child sexual exploitation task force … which has considerable expertise, to then review those cases and to look to reopen and pursue any new lines of inquiry that have not been properly pursued.' Of half of the forces who have reported back, she said: 'For those forces, 287 historic cases have been identified for review by the police child sexual exploitation task force.' The move comes after the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Professor Alexis Jay, found institutional failings and tens of thousands of victims across England and Wales. The seven-year probe made 20 recommendations in the final report published in 2022, as it described child sexual abuse as an 'epidemic' across the two nations. The Government had knocked back calls for a national review in favour of locally led inquiries, saying it was focused on implementing recommendations from Prof Jay's report. Ms Cooper also told the committee Baroness Casey has asked for a short extension to complete the national audit, before the Government can set out next steps for local inquiries and how they will run. 'Once the Casey review and the Casey audit has reported back to us, we will set out those next steps, both about how we will then expect local inquiries to be taken forward, and also the funding support that we will give,' she said. It was previously announced a funding pot of £5 million would be available for local authorities to support locally led work on grooming gangs.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Prevent referrals for young people has doubled since last summer, says Cooper
The number of younger people being referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme has doubled since last summer, the Home Secretary has revealed. Yvette Cooper told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that she was 'really worried' about 'increasing extremism among young people', with rising numbers being reported to Prevent or arrested for terrorism offences. But she also warned that not enough cases of Islamic extremism were being referred to the programme, saying she was 'concerned about the threshold ending up being too high'. The Government has embarked on an overhaul of the Prevent programme, which aims to divert people away from extremism, amid rising concern about youth radicalisation and following the murder of three young girls in Southport by teenager Axel Rudakubana. Rudakubana had been referred to Prevent, but his case was closed due to his lack of ideology. As well as appointing an independent Prevent commissioner to examine the programme, the Southport case and that of Ali Harbi Ali, who murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess in 2021, ministers launched a review of Prevent thresholds towards the end of last year. Asked about the findings of that review on Tuesday, Ms Cooper said: 'This is one of the issues that I am really worried about, and we are seeing increasing extremism among young people.' Adding that the counter-terror caseload involving young people had trebled in the last three years, she said: 'What we've also seen, I think, is a doubling of the number of young people being referred to Prevent since last summer as well. 'So this does raise some very significant challenges for us.' In response, the Government has proposed new 'youth diversion orders' as part of the Crime and Policing Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The orders are intended to apply to young people who require intervention beyond the voluntary Prevent scheme, and can impose conditions including restrictions on online activity. The latest figures show a slight rise in the number of people being referred to Prevent when compared to the previous year, with 6,922 referrals in the year up to March 31 2024. Around half of those referrals were for people aged under 18, while referrals for 'extreme right-wing concerns' outnumbered those for 'Islamist concerns' for the fourth year running. But Ms Cooper told MPs on Tuesday: 'I continue to be concerned about the threshold ending up being too high and not enough Islamist extremist cases being referred to Prevent, and the need to do more to make sure more of those cases were being referred to Prevent.'
Powys County Times
2 days ago
- Powys County Times
Nearly 300 historic child grooming gang cases to be looked at again
Hundreds of historic child sex abuse cases could be re-opened after police forces carried out reviews ordered by the Home Secretary to tackle grooming gangs. Some 287 closed cases have been identified so far by police to be looked at again by a national task force on child sexual exploitation, Yvette Cooper told a committee of MPs on Tuesday. In January, the Home Secretary urged chief constables in England and Wales to reopen cold case investigations, as she also announced a rapid review by Baroness Casey to look at the nature and scale of gang-based exploitation across the country. Ms Cooper has also vowed for at least five local inquiries to take place, including in Oldham, Greater Manchester where work is 'under way already'. The series of announcements to tackle child grooming gangs came as the Government faced pressure over the issue, including criticism from billionaire X owner Elon Musk. Ms Cooper told the Home Affairs Select Committee half of police forces have reported back to the Home Office after reviewing past investigations. 'As you will know, I have also always said the most important thing is to get perpetrators behind bars and to make sure that they face justice for these horrendous crimes,' she said. 'I did ask all police forces to review historic cases. 'We've asked them to review cases that were closed, where no further action was taken and where there are cases, to then work with the police child sexual exploitation task force … which has considerable expertise, to then review those cases and to look to reopen and pursue any new lines of inquiry that have not been properly pursued.' Of half of the forces who have reported back, she said: 'For those forces, 287 historic cases have been identified for review by the police child sexual exploitation task force.' The move comes after the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Professor Alexis Jay, found institutional failings and tens of thousands of victims across England and Wales. The seven-year probe made 20 recommendations in the final report published in 2022, as it described child sexual abuse as an 'epidemic' across the two nations. The Government had knocked back calls for a national review in favour of locally led inquiries, saying it was focused on implementing recommendations from Prof Jay's report. Ms Cooper also told the committee Baroness Casey has asked for a short extension to complete the national audit, before the Government can set out next steps for local inquiries and how they will run. 'Once the Casey review and the Casey audit has reported back to us, we will set out those next steps, both about how we will then expect local inquiries to be taken forward, and also the funding support that we will give,' she said. It was previously announced a funding pot of £5 million would be available for local authorities to support locally led work on grooming gangs.
