Government response to Baroness Casey's Report + A note on Recommendation 3

The government response to Baroness Casey's report on Group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse has been published and may be read HERE.

The |Manchester Evening News published - What the national grooming gang inquiry means for Oldham's local investigation -  local inquiry into child exploitation in Oldham may have to be paused as the government and council work out how to ‘avoid duplication’ with a newly-announced national investigation .....

Recommendation 3 is a requirement

to review the criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation. 

The Crime and Policing Bill, currently before Parliament, provides an early opportunity to deal with this recommendation.  The government's response is

 

Baroness Casey's report actually worded this recommendation as - 

Review the criminal convictions of victims of child sexual exploitation. Quash any convictions where the government finds victims were criminalised instead of protected.

Casey's report is not as limited as the government's response. The government has replaced the word "Quash" with "Disregard" and the government response refers only to"disregarding" applying to "prostitution offences as children." As for the "wider cohort" of victims who were "unjustly criminalised", their cases will be "identified, reviewed" but "overturning of criminal convictions in individual cases is a matter for the courts."

This response from the government appears, at least to me, to be potentially disappointing. At this point, it is necessary to wait and see how the proposed amendment to the Bill is worded.

Whether Baroness Casey will respond to the alteration of wording is not known at the time of writing. During her evidence to the Home Affairs Committee (on 17 June), Baroness Casey recognised that there could be difficulties with actual implementation of this particular recommendation.  

Home Affairs Committee 17 June 2025 - see HERE. 

Previous legislation 

A] Previously, Parliament has acted to quash convictions relating to the Post Office Horizon debacle - see Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Act 2024. 

B] The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 sections 92 - 101 introduced a scheme 'to address the historical wrongs suffered by men who had been criminalised for having sex with other men, by enabling them to apply to the Home Secretary to have their convictions disregarded, provided that certain conditions were met' - see UK Government Disregards and Pardons Scheme - Caseworker Guidance

Section 165 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced automatic pardons for those who had already obtained a disregard and for future applicants to the Scheme who would be granted a disregard. Section 164 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 also introduced posthumous pardons for those whose conviction meets the conditions for a disregard but who died before section 165 came into force. 

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 extended the scope of the Scheme to include any offence that was used to criminalise same-sex sexual activity which has since been repealed or abolished by enactment.

C] The Armed Forces Act 2006 section 359 granted a pardon to soldiers controversially executed for cowardice and other offences during World War I.