Two new offences from the government’s flagship Crime and Policing Bill will be introduced in Parliament making child criminal exploitation and cuckooing illegal.

Consultation Use of reasonable force and other restrictive interventions guidance: proposed amendments
Overview of Open Consultation which closes 11:59pm on 29 April 2025.

The Department of Education are seeking views on the revised ‘Use of reasonable force and other restrictive interventions in schools’ guidance.

This Government firmly believes that every child and young person should know that success can belong to them, and that is why we must break down all barriers to opportunity. This includes focusing on high and rising standards in education, so everyone can enjoy the best start in life.

They are seeking views on whether the revised 'Use of reasonable force and other restrictive interventions in schools' guidance’ supports schools to:

• Meet the new statutory requirement to record every significant incident of use of force and report these incidents to the parents of the pupils involved, effective from September 2025.
• Proactively minimise the need to use reasonable force and other restrictive interventions through prevention, de-escalation and analysing data to support improvement planning.
• Support staff to understand when and how to use force or other restrictive interventions safely and lawfully.
• Support staff who work with pupils with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
• Meet their safeguarding duties towards staff and pupils.

1. Cross Partnership Safeguarding Practice Review: Report published
This information has been provided on behalf of Central Bedfordshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnerships.

In June 2023, Isabella Wheildon tragically died. Scott Jeff has been found guilty of Isabella’s murder, and Isabella’s Mother, Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell, pleaded guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child and child cruelty.

Given the circumstances of Isabella’s death, it was agreed that a Local Children’s Safeguarding Practice Review (LCSPR) should be commissioned. This independent review has examined multi-agency safeguarding practice prior to her death. It is important that the Partnerships and all people involved in safeguarding do all they can to learn from cases such as this. Only when we do this will we have the best opportunity to reduce the risk of similar cases occurring in the future.

The purpose of the review is to identify learning and consolidate good practice. The report from the review includes recommendations for improvement. These recommendations relate to the individual agencies involved, multi-agency practice and national issues.

All of the agencies involved accept the review findings and work is already underway to implement the recommendations. To avoid delay in implementing learning, the draft recommendations were shared with all the agencies involved and the draft report was also shared with the National Panel, the body that oversees all LCSPR's.

2. Church of England publish first annual report on independent safeguarding audits
The INEQE Safeguarding Group has today published its first annual report into the independent audit work looking at safeguarding arrangements within Church of England dioceses and cathedrals. Sarah McKimm, Independent Chair of the Audit's Quality Assurance group and independent chair of the London DSAP (Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel) said:

"There has never been a more important time for safeguarding arrangements within the church to be the focus of independent rigorous scrutiny. As a national leader of safeguarding with extensive experience across a wide range of settings, INEQE reports objectively and dispassionately, without fear or favour, acknowledging good practice and progress while also highlighting areas for improvement. This first annual report will help dioceses to drive further improvement."

The Church of England’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell, said:

“I welcome the initial overview report of independent audits from INEQE published today, audits originally commissioned as one of the Church of England recommendations in the IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) report. Independent audit and scrutiny of our safeguarding work is vital, as in any institution, so we can continue to improve and learn. INEQE highlight a range of themes – both challenging and reassuring - coming out of their initial work. We look forward to their further scrutiny and recommendations as this audit plan continues across the Church and we thank all our cathedral and diocesan safeguarding officers for their continued professional commitment and hard work in making the Church a safer place”

3. Metropolitan Police Service improves its handling of child exploitation, but further changes are needed
The Metropolitan Police Service has made positive progress in how it tackles the sexual and criminal exploitation of children, but more improvements are required, the police inspectorate has said.

These improvements include:

• how it assesses and investigates the risk to missing children and crimes involving exploited children.
• its supervision of cases, making sure the child is the focus of investigations and better communication with child victims.
• ensuring its audit processes identify victim-blaming language and increased activity to help eradicate it; and
• better oversight arrangements for its response to missing children and use of innovative techniques to help find them more quickly.

However, HMICFRS said that the service still has more work to do to improve further in these areas and to provide a consistently good service.

For example, inspectors described several examples where cases of missing children were graded incorrectly. In some cases, the service didn’t do enough, or act quickly enough, to find children. The inspectorate also said that there were too many missed opportunities to follow lines of enquiry to trace offenders.

HMICFRS found that the service still has problems in complying with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime and rarely carries out initial victim needs assessments. This can have a negative effect on the service a victim receives throughout the criminal justice system.

Security Industry Authority SIA
1. Changes to the training needed for a Supervisor or Security Guard Licence
From 1 April 2025, there has to be a ‘refresher’ qualification the door supervisor or security guard licence can be renewed. There has to be an up-to-date Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, or equivalent, before the refresher training and the first aid qualification will need to be shown to the training provider when registering for a refresher course.

In 2021 the SIA introduced new, updated qualifications for all sectors except close protection and vehicle immobilisation. It also made it a requirement that:

• Applicants must have an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, or equivalent, before individuals can take the training required for a door supervisor or security guard licence
• Applicants must have one of the new qualifications or take top-up training before you can apply for or renew a door supervisor and security guard licence.

In 2022 the SIA introduced an updated close protection qualification. They also made it a requirement that applicants must have the new qualification or take top-up training before applying for, or renewing a close protection licence.

The SIA need to make sure that people working in the private security industry can:

• keep the public safe
• follow new working practices
• understand recent changes to the law
• make the best use of new technology

If an individual holds a door supervisor licence they can choose one of the following options:

• take the door supervisor refresher training and renew their door supervisor licence
• take the security guard refresher training and switch to a security guard licence

If an individual already holds a close protection licence, they can choose one of the following options:

• take the close protection top-up training and renew the close protection licence
• take the door supervisor refresher training and switch to a door supervisor licence

Door supervisors and security guards must complete an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, or equivalent, before taking the licence-linked training. This applies both to the full licence-linked training courses and to the refresher training.

The SIA accept qualifications that comply with the relevant guidance from the Health and Safety Executive. Some examples are:

• First Aid at Work (FAW)
• First Person on Scene (FPOS)
• First Response Emergency Care (FREC)

Close protection operatives must complete a first aid qualification at level 3 or above before taking the licence-linked training. Some examples are:

• Level 3 First Aid at Work (FAW)
• Level 3 First Person on Scene (FPOS)
• Level 3 First Response Emergency Care (FREC)

2. Security boss convicted of obstructing regulator's investigation
The director of a Manchester-based security company has been ordered to pay over £3,500 after failing to comply with an investigation into the suspected deployment of unlicensed security operatives.

Katie O’Neill, the director of I-Guard Security Ltd, ignored several requests for information and invitations to interview from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) last year.

The SIA first began investigating I-Guard Security Ltd after receiving intelligence from Merseyside Police that unlicensed security operatives had been deployed to a venue in Liverpool. The SIA requested information from O’Neill in March 2024 regarding security provision for the venue but received no reply.

On 22 April 2024 the SIA sent a further request for information. O’Neill did not respond to this second request. The SIA then invited her to attend an interview under caution in respect of her refusal to provide the information requested. When she did not respond the SIA began prosecution proceedings.

Manchester Magistrates’ Court sentenced O’Neill on 9 January 2025. The court fined her £1,100 and ordered her to pay a victim surcharge of £440 plus prosecution costs of £2,000.

‘Ronan’s Law’ to see toughest crackdown yet on knife sales online
Retailers will need to report suspicious and bulk purchases of knives on their platforms to police, with tougher sentences for selling knives to under 18s. Stricter rules for online retailers selling knives will be introduced by the government, along with tougher penalties for failing to enforce them, as we pursue every avenue to protect young people from knife crime.

Following tragedies where the unlicensed sale of these weapons online has led to young people being killed, retailers will be required to report any bulk or suspicious-looking purchases of knives on their platforms to police to prevent illegal resales happening across social media accounts.

Underlining commitment to stop these weapons from reaching young people, the sentences for selling weapons to under 18s will increase from 6 months to up to 2 years prison time, which could apply to an individual who has processed the sale or a CEO of the company.

This increased penalty will also apply to the sale or supply of prohibited offensive weapons such as recently banned zombie-style knives, following police evidence outlined by Commander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime, where he identified a discrepancy in current legislation which means there is more leniency for illegally selling weapons than possessing one.

And in recognition of the broad array of knives - legal or banned - that are involved in knife attacks, a new offence of possessing an offensive weapon with intent for violence will be introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill which will come with a prison sentence of up to 4 years in prison. This means that no matter if the weapon in possession is legal or not, if there is intent to cause violence, it is a crime.

The government will also explore through a consultation later this year whether a registration scheme should be put in place for all online retailers selling knives so that only responsible sellers are able to sell knives. This follows the government’s recent announcement that we will significantly strengthen ID checks on the sale and delivery of knives to keep our streets safe as part of the Plan for Change.

1. Mencap responds to “Lost in the System, The Need for Better NHS Admin, from the Kings Fund”
Which highlights the scale and impact of poor NHS administration and patient communications, including on people with long-term conditions.

Jon Sparkes, OBE, Chief Executive at learning disability charity Mencap, says:

“It's deeply worrying to hear people are being deterred from getting medical treatment because of NHS admin issues and this can be particularly harmful for people with a learning disability, who already face huge inequalities in getting the healthcare they need.

“Having to chase test results, not knowing who to contact or how long you might have to wait for treatment is hard for anyone and it’s unsurprising that people end up with delays to care or treatment or feel like giving up. It is an even heavier burden for people with a learning disability who are struggling to navigate a complex health system.

“For people with a learning disability these barriers to healthcare form part of the picture where they die on average up to 23 years earlier than the general population with many of their deaths avoidable. Delays to accessing care and treatment are a key driver of these shocking inequalities.

“Poor admin isn't just an inconvenience it actively deepens health inequalities. The Government’s 10 Year NHS Plan must fix these preventable admin failures and ensure the healthcare system meets the needs of people with a learning disability. This includes ensuring they are supported to access easy-to-understand information and are able to contact NHS services in a more accessible way.

2. Victims of rape and sexual abuse are being encouraged to seek vital support through a new Government campaign. 
Over one million adults a year experience sexual violence, yet many are not aware of the free help available through the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support line.  This dedicated awareness campaign is designed to reach the survivors still suffering in silence. This contributes to the Government’s Safer Streets Mission to halve violence against women and girls over the next 10 years. The campaign launch coincided with Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.

Funded by the Ministry of Justice and delivered by Rape Crisis England & Wales, the line handled over 100,000 calls and webchats in its second year, providing victims aged 16 and over with a free, confidential, emotional support and listening service. 

The Support Line is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to all survivors. It is accessible through phone and webchat, with additional online resources to help friends and family who are supporting survivors to rebuild their lives. The Government is determined to reach more victims of sexual violence and encourage them to reach out for support, regardless of gender or background. 

Further Information

• The 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line campaign looks to raise awareness of the support available to victims of sexual violence and encourage them to reach out for support. The campaign wants victims to understand that, no matter what happened: you deserve support, it wasn’t your fault, we’ll listen to you, and we’ll believe you. The campaign directs victims to call 0808 500 2222 or visit 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk to chat online or find out more. If you want to support the campaign, or gain access to campaign materials, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
• This builds on the work of the Government to tackle perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. Ministers have already announced the launch of the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders pilot, outlined plans to introduce independent legal advisers for adult rape victims, and set out a new drive to inform all victims of crime of their rights via the Victims’ Code.
• The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) provides the best measure of victimisation and estimated that 2.3% of adults (3.3% women and 1.2% men) aged 16 years and over were victims of sexual assault (including attempts) in the year ending March 2022 survey; this equates to an estimated 1.1 million adults (798,000 women and 275,000 men).
• Data provided by Rape Crisis England and Wales covers calls and webchats in the year December 2023 – December 2024.

3. Man who conspired to commit FGM has jail sentence increased
Source: Attorney General’s Office Published on this website Tuesday 18 February 2025.
Emad Kaky, 48, has had his sentence increased after it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. The court heard that in June 2019 Kaky arranged for a young girl to travel to Iraq for an FGM procedure and to be forced into marriage.
Kaky’s plans were uncovered by a witness who arranged for the victim to travel back to the UK from Iraq and reported Kaky to the police. Kaky was convicted of conspiracy to commit FGM and forced marriage.

On 3 October 2024, Emad Kaky was sentenced to four and a half years’ imprisonment at Nottingham Crown Court for one count of conspiracy to commit FGM outside England and Wales and one count of forced marriage.

On 24 January 2025, Kaky’s sentence was substituted for 7 years’ imprisonment after it was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

1. Former scout leader who assaulted 19 boys jailed
A former scout leader who assaulted children as young as seven over almost three decades has been jailed.

Ian Charles Silvester, 60, was found guilty of 79 offences following a trial at Lewes Crown Court on 20 November 2024. Today, he has been sentenced to 16 years imprisonment, with an additional six years on extended licence.

Silvester, of Brighton, was prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an investigation by Sussex Police.

Between 1986 and 2013, Silvester worked in various positions of trust, such as a Cub Scout leader, a diving instructor, a St John Ambulance trainer, a first aid trainer, and babysitter. Through these roles, Silvester was able to access and befriend the young victims and their families.

He used these roles to persuade young boys to do what he asked, often under the guise that they were playing an innocent game or taking part in an educational activity. In reality, Silvester was purposefully manipulating them into situations where he could inappropriately touch and molest them for his own sexual gratification.

Following his arrest, a number of digital devices were seized from the defendant’s home. Analysis of these devices found a huge amount of incriminating material, including images and recordings of the victims being assaulted by Silvester, indecent images of children, online chat logs and web search history about his sexual fetishes and sexual interest in young boys.

To deal with some of the more complex and challenging child sexual abuse cases, the CPS has a dedicated Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit to share specialist understanding, build strong cases and increase the amount of successful prosecutions.

2. Burglary duo that befriended vulnerable victims for profit jailed
A man and a woman that worked together to befriend vulnerable victims for their own gain have been jailed for a collective sentence spanning nearly ten years.

Nicola Clewes, and Gary Betts, both 46 and from Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, admitted burglary and theft offences at an earlier hearing and were sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Thursday 23 January.

Between February and April last year, the duo turned up at different addresses in Meir and targeted vulnerable people. They told one woman they were delivering post, eventually being allowed inside the victim’s home. They ate food, helped themselves to drinks and took cash from the victim’s purse before leaving.

They took household items and more cash from other victims, as well as medication.

When the Staffordshire police found out about the thefts, they started immediate work to track the pair down and secure the evidence needed to charge them. Clewes pleaded guilty to robbery and three counts of burglary. She was sentenced to six-and-a-half-years imprisonment. Betts admitted two counts of burglary and was jailed for 40-months.

3. Six people convicted of modern slavery
Six people who exploited Vietnamese workers who had been smuggled into the UK for forced labour on cannabis farms have been convicted.

Mai Van Nguyen, 35, Duong Dinh, 38, Nghĩa Dinh Tran, 30, Shamraiz Akhtar, 54, Tasawar Hussain, 54, and Amjad Nawaz, 43, were found guilty of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate the travel of people with a view to forcing them to work in exploitative conditions on cannabis farms and of a conspiracy to produce cannabis between 1 June 2020 and 18 August 2022 at Birmingham Crown Court.

A long and detailed investigation by the National Crime Agency supported by the Crown Prosecution Service discovered that the defendants arranged for victims, people who had been smuggled illegally into the UK, to be trafficked around the UK to work in cannabis farms. The defendants conspired together to move the victims, equipment, and cannabis around the UK. The victims were held in conditions of modern slavery where their movements were controlled. The Prosecution case showed that all of the defendants were involved in conspiracy to produce cannabis on a large scale.

4. Former Olympic swimmer jailed for 21 years for raping teenage girls
A former Olympic swimmer and trainee police officer, who represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Games, has been jailed at Plymouth Crown Court for raping two teenage girls. He has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life. Antony James, 35, was sentenced to a total of 21 years. He was convicted by a jury in October 2024 of eight charges, including three counts of rape, three of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. James had denied the offences, but pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent images of a child, including four videos and seven photos of the most serious category A.

James was a student officer with Devon and Cornwall Police at the time of his arrest.

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day 2025, took place on February 11th. This year’s theme, “Too Good to Be True? Protecting Yourself and Others from Scams Online,” highlighted crucial issues and was promoted to support young people with identifying and avoiding online scams.

Whether as an educator, parent, carer, or simply passionate about internet safety, there are still plenty of ways to take advantage of the available resources:

1. Download the Free Education Resources

Access Education Resources

2. Test Knowledge with Safer Internet Day Quizzes

Access Quizzes