Remit
Following consideration of public petition PE1393 by Barnardo's Scotland on tackling child sexual exploitation in Scotland, the Committee has agreed to hold an inquiry with the following remit:
To examine the nature and extent of child sexual exploitation in Scotland; in conjunction with relevant agencies and stakeholders to determine the most pertinent issues which need to be addressed; to examine the effectiveness of current measures aimed at tackling, preventing and disrupting child sexual exploitation; and to make recommendations on what needs to be done to improve the effectiveness of those measures.
The Committee has appointed Dr Sarah Nelson, University of Edinburgh as its adviser to assist with the inquiry.
Evidence
First Tranche Call for Evidence
The Committee issued an initial call for evidence on 6 March 2013 seeking views from support organisations for vulnerable or excluded young people and their service users.
Read the first tranche call for evidence
Read the news release on the first tranche call for evidence
Read the first tranche written submissions received
Second Tranche Call for Evidence
The Committee issued a second tranche call for evidence on 19 April 2013 seeking views from bodies that work within the current framework aimed at tackling and preventing child sexual exploitation.
Read the second tranche call for evidence
Read the news release on the second tranche call for evidence
Read the second tranche written submissions received
Oral Evidence
Tuesday 30 April 2013
The Committee took oral evidence from the Minister for Children and Young People and the Care Inspectorate on Tuesday 30 April.
Following the meeting on Tuesday 30 April, the Committee wrote to the Minister for Children and Young People and the Minister's reply is below:
Tuesday 11 June 2013
The Committee took oral evidence from two panels on Tuesday 11 June. The composition of the panels was as follows:
Panel 1
Daljeet Dagon, Children's Services Manager, Barnardo's Scotland;
Julian Heng, Service Manager, NHS Open Road;
Liz Ray, National Learning and Development Lead, Who Cares? Scotland;
Martin Henry, National Manager, Stop it Now! Scotland.
Panel 2
Ken Dunbar, Chief Executive, Aberlour Child Care Trust;
Rosina McCrae, Director, Say Women;
Linda Thompson, Development Officer, Women's Support Project;
Anela Anwar, Head of Projects, roshni.
Tuesday 25 June 2013
The Committee took oral evidence from the Rt Hon Frank Mulholland QC, Lord Advocate, Alison Di Rollo, Head of National Sexual Crimes Unit, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, Police Scotland on Tuesday 25 June.
Tuesday 29 October 2013
The Committee took oral evidence from Sheila Taylor MBE, Chief Executive Officer, and Cheryl Stevens, Project Coordinator, National Working Group for Sexually Exploited Children and Young People and Professor Kirsten Stalker, Professor of Disability Studies, University of Strathclyde on Tuesday 29 October.
At the meeting on Tuesday 29 October, the Commitee agreed to seek further written evidence and to consider an issues paper at a future meeting.
Written Evidence
Report
The Committee published its report on Tuesday 14 January 2014:
Scottish Government Response
The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's report on Wednesday 30 April 2014:
The Committee considered the Scottish Government's response at its meeting on Tuesday 17 June 2014:
Following the meeting of 17 June 2014, the Committee wrote to the Minister for Children and Young People. The Minister responded on 24 June 2014:
The Minister for Children and Young People wrote to the Committee on 10 October 2014:
The Committee considered the Minister's letter at its meeting on Tuesday 28 October 2014:
The Minister for Children and Young People wrote to the Committee with details of Scotland's National Action Plan on Child Sexual Exploitation on 11 November 2014:
Debate
A debate on the Committee's report was held in the Chamber on Tuesday 28 January 2014.