Legislation Update: Crime and Policing Act
Hello!
How are you?! Its been ages- I've been slacking, sorry! Totally missed last months newsletter. But hopefully I've made it up to you this month with a little overview of some interesting legislation that's been passed, finally.
I've been talking about the Crime and Policing (Bill) for the last two years in my training sessions, but it finally received Royal Assent in April this year. There is loads of interesting stuff in there, relevant for different sectors, but here is a brief summary of some of the things that are particularly relevant for the safeguarding training I deliver or the policies I write!
✅ Cuckooing is now a standalone criminal offence.
For the first time, there is legal protection for vulnerable people who have been exploited. That being said, if the person consented, it will still be difficult to prove and commentators are concerned about the possible criminalisation of young people who maybe perpetrators while also being vulnerable young people themselves.
Action needed:
Cuckooing should be added as a named safeguarding risk in your policy with clear indicators and response guidance.
✅ Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is a new standalone offence.
Adults who use children to commit crime face up to 10 years imprisonment, plus new CCE Prevention Orders.
Action needed:
Consider including specific training on county lines, CCE and the links to housing vulnerability in your safeguarding updates. Also, organisations should be aware that an individual's behaviour can be restricted by the prevention orders, which may prohibit contact with specific people, or restrict their presence in certain areas. This will directly impact on housing providers.
✅ Mandatory duty to report child sexual abuse
The expectation to report isn’t new, but it is now a legal criminal duty for those in specified roles, which raises the stakes significantly and requires organisations to be explicit about it in policy. Individuals in key roles working with children who fail to report can be charged with a criminal offence.
Action needed:
If your staff work with children, your safeguarding policy needs to explicitly address the new legal duty and the consequences of non-compliance.
✅ Grooming is a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing
Courts must treat grooming behaviour as making a sexual offence more serious, not just consider it. This is great, but only sits within the context of sexual offences against children. It isn't a blanket aggravating factor across all crime. So if someone has been grooming a child to carry out shoplifting, for example, that wouldn't automatically trigger this provision in the same way.
Action needed:
Training for frontline staff should guide them to document the pattern, not just the incident. Grooming behaviour spotted early (before abuse occurs) is now legally significant.
✅ The Vagrancy Act 1824 is repealed
Rough sleeping and begging are no longer criminal offences; replacement legislation focuses on gangs exploiting people for financial gain, not individuals in genuine need. In reality, it’ll be interesting to see how this is enforced.
✅ Strengthened MACE (Multi-Agency Child Exploitation) framework
Stronger local partnerships and better data sharing to tackle CSE, county lines and criminal exploitation. The cynic in me wonders how this will be strengthened and with what funding, but we’ll see!
Action needed:
Review information sharing agreements with police, social care and MACE panels, as the Act strengthens the expectation of multi-agency working.
I'd be really interested in hearing your thoughts about how this will impact the work you're doing in your organisation! Please do reply to let me know if you're thinking about what actions are going to be necessary and whether you need help embedding any of this in your policies and procedures, or in training.
