Speeches by Phillips.

“Yes. DSIT sits on the Violence Against Women and Girls Board, and I have to say, there is really good attendance from its Secretary of State on that. It is an issue he takes very seriously personally, and he and I worked for many years, for example, on changing the family courts together. So yes, we work with DSIT all …”

“I gave a statement to Parliament and published a plan, if you will, of some timelines that are really specifically on the IICSA recommendations. Once again, the Home Office is actually only responsible for four of the 20 IICSA recommendations; they are largely the responsibility of other Government Departments. But the…”

“Me personally meeting with the Secretary of State for Education on IICSA was just before we announced our plans. The meeting was really specifically around a child protection authority, and I took along Alexis Jay to that meeting with me. Janet Daby—the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing—is on the Violence A…”

“What you will know is that that is independent of me, and so it would be wrong for me to tell an independent inquiry what and where it has to look at.”

“I also watched half of Louise.”

“Again, far be it from me to tell an independent inquiry where to go. What I will say is that I dislike—as I have for a number of years, and I am sure these places dislike it as well—that the issue of grooming gangs becomes synonymous with basically three or four places that, to be fair to them, have been the places tha…”

“I do not need to wait for an inquiry. Louise tried to express this earlier: if she had only been offered one rather than all 12 recommendations, she would have taken the national police one. That is her clear line from the evidence she gave to yourselves earlier, from what I watched. There is absolutely no reason why a…”

“Yes.”

“On the legislative ones, I wish I could sit here and say yes to you. You know the signs for cars as you drive around Parliament that say, “Dead slow?” I always think, “You’re not wrong; Parliament moves quite slowly.” Legislation has barriers that I sometimes cannot foresee. However, one of them we will put immediately…”

“That is absolutely true.”

“Again, I reiterate my point that I would always like more. Baroness Casey’s recommendation 12, which was agreed to by the Government, fulsomely by the Prime Minister, is that this work will be fully funded. Obviously, that is part of all the work that has gone on last week, but I will be making keen representations, as…”

“Obviously, it is led by the Department for Education; it sits within its purview, and plans are in place to use existing systems and then change them. I will not apologise for making an enormous change in child protection and seeking to consult with experts—including Alexis Jay—to ensure that that happens and is done p…”

“It will start by the end of the year, but I believe it is afoot currently. Again, I would say the Department for Education would be better suited to answer your questions.”

“You can decide whether it is helpful or unhelpful, but Louise did not write a figure into the document. Obviously some of the work around working up exactly what that looks like and the form of inquiry is currently under way. I suppose I will revert to what Louise quite helpfully said, “We were given the report 10 days…”

“My pleasure.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Tracy Gilbert) for securing the debate. The depth of her knowledge and passion about this issue was obvious as she spoke. The men she spoke of in her opening remarks, and the reviews that she r…”

“Child sexual exploitation and abuse are the most horrific crimes, and the Government are taking decisive action to ensure that victims and survivors of grooming gangs get the justice that they deserve. We are delivering on the key recommendations of the seven-year independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, including …”

“The idea that I or the Prime Minister have ever put anything other than the interests of the victims of grooming gangs at the heart of everything that we have ever worked for is, frankly, for the birds. We have increased the number of arrests of the perpetrators that the right hon. Gentleman talks about. We will contin…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point that short-term funding massively hampers the sector. The vast majority of violence against women and girls funding comes from local authorities and, in fact, other Departments, but I will absolutely commit to looking at how the Home Office manages its contracts to ensure sustain…”

“Yes, of course. As my hon. Friend knows, I have had a strong bond with Doreen for many years. Of course I would be delighted to meet him and her.”