Petition Mandatory collection and publication of certain child sexual offender data
Place a statutory requirement on councils, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and all other related institutions to collect, record and publish the nationality, ethnicity, immigration status and religion of child sexual offenders, including gang based crime.
More details
To protect children and inform public policy, we believe it is essential to collect, record and publish the nationality, ethnicity, immigration status and religion of all child sexual offenders, including gang based crime. This data will allow for better understanding of offender demographics, ensure transparency, and support targeted safeguarding strategies. Without this information, critical patterns may be missed, weakening efforts to prevent abuse and protect vulnerable children.
259,143 signatures
Show on a map the geographical breakdown of signatures by constituency
100,000 signatures required to be considered for a debate in Parliament
Parliament will consider this for a debate
Parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate
Waiting for 140 days for a debate date
Government responded
This response was given on 30 July 2025
The Government is already taking action to increase the collection and transparency of data on the demographic characteristics of individuals responsible for group-based child sexual exploitation.
Read the response in full
The Government is determined to protect more children from the horrors of grooming gangs and other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation. In February 2025, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary commissioned Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock to evaluate the understanding of the scale, nature and drivers of group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), including assessing data on the ethnicity of perpetrators. Her report was published on Monday 16 June.
The Government has already accepted the twelve recommendations from Baroness Casey’s report, which included making it a requirement for the police to collect the ethnicity and nationality data of individuals suspected of being members of grooming gangs or perpetrators of other group-based child sexual exploitation. The Home Office is now working alongside the police to establish the best mechanisms for collecting and publishing that data.
In respect of nationality data, the Ministry of Justice already includes data on the nationality of persons within the prison system in its quarterly offender management statistics, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly. In addition, the Home Office has committed to review the data that it collects and publishes regarding the nationalities and offences committed by foreign national offenders who are subject to deportation proceedings. Further details of that review process can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-foreign-national-offenders-and-the-immigration-system
In respect of data on the religion practised by perpetrators of child sexual exploitation and abuse, there is no current mechanism to collect that data, other than through any declaration made by the perpetrator themselves, which would weaken both the accuracy and comprehensiveness of any analysis based on that data. We will continually seek to deepen our understanding of the cultural drivers behind child grooming gangs and other group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, and ensure that as many as possible of the perpetrators responsible for these heinous crimes – whether historic or contemporary – are investigated and brought to justice.
Home Office
Related activity
-
Petitions Committee requests a revised response from the Government
The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) has considered the Government’s response to this petition. They felt the response did not respond directly to the request of the petition. They have therefore asked the Government to provide a revised response.
When the Committee receives a revised response from the Government, we will publish this and share it with you.