Latest News

The Crime and Policing Bill has been laid before Parliament. It includes provisions to introduce: new offences of child criminal exploitation and cuckooing (where a vulnerable person’s home is used by others to commit criminal activity).

NSPCC Learning has published a key topic page about how professionals working with children can protect them from child criminal exploitation.

The NSPCC has collaborated with the Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse and Barnardo’s to send a joint letter to the Home Sectary and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, calling for the Government to ensure children are better protected from child sexual abuse in private messaging environments.

The NSPCC has published a news story about boys’ vulnerability to sexual extortion, or ‘sextortion’. Sexual extortion is a form of online blackmail that involves the threat of sharing nude or semi-nude images or videos to extort money or force someone to do something against their will.

The NSPCC has published a news story on contacts to its helplines concerning parental substance misuse.

The BBC has published a news story exploring the 20 recommendations that were set out by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in October 2022. The Inquiry investigated abuse in churches, schools, custodial institutions and other settings. The news story looks at what progress has been made.

Action for Children has published a blog post on children affected by homelessness in the UK. The blog discusses the scale of the issue and the main causes of youth homelessness including: family breakdown; leaving care; and mental health problems.

Major reforms to protect thousands of vulnerable children hidden from sight will take another crucial step forward today (8 January 2025).

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has announced new online safety priorities for Ofcom as it continues its work to implement the Online Safety Act. Ofcom will have to report back to the Secretary of State on what action it has taken against the priorities.

The Guardian has published a news story on the introduction of new measures on Roblox aiming to improve protection for children on the online gaming platform.