Mandatory Reporting

Background

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) final report was published in October 2022 and made 20 recommendations.

The report demonstrated that when child sexual abuse (CSA) is disclosed, individuals and institutions have often failed to take appropriate action. This has led to an under-reporting of child sexual abuse. To address this, one of the twenty recommendations made in the report was to introduce mandatory reporting of sexual abuse.

Legislation

The government has included mandatory reporting into the Crime and Policing Bill which is currently in its final stages in the Houses of Parliament and Lords. It is expected to become law at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. At that stage the Government will provide detailed guidance as to how the duty is to be implemented.

Once it becomes law the Government will provide an implementation period (most likely 1 year) before the duty comes into force.

Mandatory reporting

Is for individuals, not organisations. Mandated reporters will have a statutory duty to report sexual abuse (including non-recent).

Mandated reports are individuals aged 18 years and over in England who:

– Are involved in regulated activity with under 18s OR

– Are involved in activities where they are in a Position of Trust (this will be defined in the Bill)

These individuals must ensure that where a victim or an abuser discloses that a child is being sexually abused, as well as in cases where child sexual abuse (CSA) is witnessed, or signs are observed that indicate that a child has been sexually abused, these must be reported to the Police / Children’s Social Care.

If an individual reports a sexual abuse concern to the relevant person in their church / organisation (usually the Designated Safeguarding Lead), the individual sharing that concern must check that the concern has been referred on the statutory services. They must not assume it has been dealt with. This doesn’t mean that the individual themselves with the initial concern has to make the referral to social care / police but rather ensure that their concern has been reported.

What happens if a mandated individual fails to report?

There will be no criminal penalties. Those who fail to report child sexual abuse which they are made aware of may be referred to the Disclosure and Barring Service for consideration of inclusion on the children’s Barred list which will prevent them from working or volunteering with under 18s in the future.

For individuals who hold professional roles (e.g. social workers, health professionals etc.) which are subject to regulated professional standards, the relevant bodies will also consider appropriate sanctions which may include an assessment of their fitness to practice.

New criminal offence in bill

A person will be committing an offence if they know that somebody is under a duty to report sex offences and engage in any conduct to prevent or deter that person from complying with that duty and reporting the abuse.

Anyone seeking to obstruct the individual from making the report under the duty could face imprisonment of up to 7 years.

What can churches / organisations do to prepare?

The NSPCC has produced a 1-hour free training video about what is known currently mandatory reporting. Your church’s / organisation’s safeguarding teams can watch this to help prepare. You will find the link here:

NSPCC Training on Mandatory Reporting

Ensure that your staff and volunteers are confident in identifying signs and indicators of sexual abuse and your processes of reporting this; think through your training.

Be aware that when the Crime and Policing Bill becomes law, safeguarding policies relating to under 18s will need updating to reflect the new law and duty.

Your safeguarding team can begin to think through processes of how they provide confirmation to a mandated individual that their concern about sexual abuse has been reported to the statutory authorities.

Updates

CSS will provide updates as to when the Bill becomes law, when the government guidance is available and we will update our safeguarding policy template to reflect the new duty.