London gets £2.4m for child exploitation support

The capital will receive the funding for counselling and therapeutic support

A £2.4m package of support has been announced for victims and survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in London.

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said the money would directly fund new independent sexual violence advocates and expand counselling provision for all survivors of CSE.

It comes after the Met announced it would re-examine hundreds of cases of CSE over the past 15 years as part of a national re-investigation overseen by the National Crime Agency and the National Police Chief's Council.

Susan Hall, leader of the Conservative Group in the London Assembly, called the funds "too little, too late", while the money was welcomed by London's independent victims' commissioner.

The mayor's office said the £2.4m would bolster specialist support including advocacy, counselling, and therapeutic interventions for children and adult survivors of CSE.

This includes institutional abuse, intra-familial offending, peer-on-peer cases, online exploitation and gang-related or group-based child sexual exploitation.

'Heinous abuse'

Sir Sadiq said: "Any individuals, groups or grooming gangs exploiting children for sex are utterly abhorrent and I want justice for every single victim of these horrific crimes.

"As the Met carries out its vital work to re-examine cases over the past 15 years, I'm announcing a new £2.4m package of support for victims and survivors to ensure they have the care, attention and specialist support services they deserve."

Hall, leader of the Conservatives, said she was glad the issue had the mayor's focus, but said the funding seemed "little more than the mayor trying to sanitise his image".

"City Hall Conservatives had a fully-costed proposal for a £4.5m inquiry in London into this heinous abuse - the mayor coughing up £2m after months of trying to avoid talking about it just rings hollow," she said.

London's victims' commissioner Claire Waxman said the funding put "victims and survivors first".

"It will directly fund new independent sexual violence advocates and the vital work they do, alongside therapeutic care for victims and survivors of all ages who have experienced any form of sexual abuse," she said.

"The national review and re-investigations must mark a turning point in the quality and consistency of police work."

An initial data search by the Met identified about 9,000 historic cases that could fall under the broad national criteria.

But after reviewing 2,200 of them only about 1,200 remained in scope, Sir Mark Rowley told the London Assembly earlier this month.

Commander Clair Kelland, the Met's public protection lead, said the force had "significantly strengthened" its approach to identifying and investigating all forms of child sexual exploitation since 2022, which had led to a "threefold increase in solved cases over the past year".

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