Clearly, there were widespread failures in a number of institutions and that is what a large number of people are seeking to rectify now. That brings me on naturally to my next point—this addresses many of the questions that have been rightly asked and the powerful point made by the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert)—which is that, although what we are doing is necessary, it is certainly not sufficient to believe that it will eradicate this terrible crime.
We seek to protect children as a high priority beyond legislation, and it is the need for that much more widespread change of attitude and culture in institutions that informs the work of the National Group on Sexual Violence against Children and Vulnerable People, which I chair and whose membership is indicative of the widespread group of people necessary to act on this terrible crime. It includes not only a number of Departments, such as the Home Office to deal with the criminal elements and the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) and his representatives, but the health service, local government and the police, which have important roles to play. The group also includes many non-governmental organisations and charities. Such organisations often sit outside governmental structures and shout through their megaphones about how Government should be doing things better. It seems to me that in a matter of such seriousness and urgency, having them sitting at the table from the start saying, “This is how you should do things,” is likely to produce a much faster and more sensitive response to the problems.
6.30 pm
The group will address some of the issues that have been brought up in this debate, such as rehabilitation, which the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North (Diana Johnson) rightly mentioned. There is a wide range of issues that it could deal with, but we have set four immediate priority areas. Our top priority is prevention because, as we all agree, the best way to solve this problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
The second priority is the attitude of the police. Extra training is required so that police officers who are approached with evidence of child abuse and particularly of grooming like that seen in Oxford, Rochdale and other areas are better trained than they have been to assess the credibility of the story, rather than of the witness. One of the problems is that many of the young girls who come forward are in care or in trouble with the police and are likely to be involved in drugs and alcohol, not least because they have been put on them by the men who are grooming them. They may not, therefore, appear at first to be the most credible or compelling of witnesses. Looking beyond the individual in front of them to the terrible and frightening crime that lies beyond is a skill that police officers can learn through training. The police are trying hard to do that across the regional police forces and through the National Crime Agency.
The third priority is the criminal justice response. The House has discussed before the necessity for witnesses not to be intimidated out of giving necessary evidence by the traditional court procedures. Before the end of the year, we will pilot the use of pre-recorded video evidence by vulnerable witnesses in three centres, so that the full panoply of the court, which often puts
witnesses off and intimidates them, is not there. We will be piloting that shortly to ensure that the appropriate safeguards are in place for the defendant.