This article is written by Trainee Solicitor, Matt Clover and Chris Webb-Jenkins, Partner and Head of the Safeguarding and Abuse Technical Unit, Public Sector Claims
The Government’s Crime and Policing Bill was introduced into Parliament for its first reading on 25 February 2025. It is a vast piece of legislation with provisions covering many areas including public order, retail crime, anti-social behaviour and police powers.
Of particular interest is Part 5, Chapter 2 of the Bill. This proposes a new legal duty to report suspected child sex offences.
Who must be notified?
The Bill requires that suspected child sex offences are notified to either the police, the local authority, or both. A notification can be made in writing or orally, it must identify the person suspected of the offence and explain why a notification is being made.
We expect further detail around the precise mechanics of this notification duty to be provided in secondary legislation. The Bill also has a provision allowing police and local authorities to have input into this process through published policies and procedures.
Notifications must be made as soon as practicable. However, the Bill does allow for a 7-day delay in making a notification in certain specific circumstances, including where a person believes that making an immediate notification would give rise to a risk to the child’s safety.
Notifications under the Bill will not be deemed to have breached any obligations of confidence or any other restriction on disclosure of information.
Who does the duty apply to?
The duty will apply to individuals who are carrying out a relevant activity. Relevant activity is defined in the Bill as a combination of:
1. The definition of Regulated Activity in schedule 4 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006; and
2. A selection of other activities taken from the definition of Position of Trust activities in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
This means that individuals caught by the duty will include teachers, careers advisers, social workers, guardians and those looking after children under court orders, amongst others.
Under the Bill an individual will have discharged their duty to report by reporting their suspicion to a police officer who records their suspicion of a child sex offence.
What amounts to a suspicion of a child sex offence?
There are five scenarios listed in the Bill which indicate what will trigger the duty to report.
The first is where a person witnesses conduct which leads them to suspect a child sex offence is occurring.
The remaining four use a reasonable person test: (the scenario) would cause a reasonable person who engages in the same relevant activity as the person to suspect that a child sex offence may have been committed. The four scenarios are:
1. Where a child communicates something to the person;
2. Where another person communicates something to the person;
3. The person sees an image or hears an audio recording; and
4. The person sees another in possession of an image.
What is a child sex offence?
The offences under the Bill are specific to child sexual abuse and exploitation. They do not extend to physical or emotional abuse. The Bill lists various offences, including offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (including the creation or possession of indecent images of children, and abuse while in a position of trust), and sexual exploitation under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Are there exceptions to the duty?
There is a short list of exceptions in the Bill which includes where the sexual offence is believed to be consensual between children. However, these exceptions are narrow, and there are four conditions which must be met before a person is not under an obligation to report their suspicion.
The first condition is that the child sex offence must relate to a specific offence (arranging/facilitating, sex offences committed by a child and indecent images).
The second condition is that the person (or the offender in the case of the chid exception) reasonably believes that each person involved is a child over the age of 13.
The third condition relates to the person (or the offender in the case of the chid exception) being satisfied that each person involved in the offence consented to it.
The final condition is that person is satisfied that it would not be appropriate in the circumstances to make a notification, having regard (among other things) to the risk of harm to each person.
What are the sanctions under the Bill?
The Bill only provides for an offence of preventing or deterring a person from complying with their duty under The Bill, it does not create an offense for failing to make a notification. Instead, the policy intent is that failure to comply with the duty could result in an individual being referred to their professional regulator and/or a person being included on the children’s barred list.
