I wholeheartedly agree that everyone needs to play their part in identifying, preventing and tackling child sexual abuse in the family environment. Lives are destroyed when this type of abhorrent abuse is not identified. Having a thorough knowledge of the early warning signs and the confidence to be professionally curious and challenge is fundamental to prevention and escalation.
I will ensure through my oversight of Surrey Police and our participation in the Surrey Safeguarding Children Executive (involving key partners of police, health, local authorities and education) that we raise and discuss this important report. In particular, I will be asking questions with regard to the assessment and action taken when sexually harmful behaviour is displayed, the training available for sexual abuse within the family environment and the quality of the case supervision to ensure robust investigations.
I am committed to supporting work aimed at prevention and fund a number of interventions aimed at reducing offending behaviour, including educating young people about sexual offences and co-commissioning with the National Probation Service a long-established and evaluated management programme for sex offenders to reduce sexual harm.