Committee
Education, Children and Young People Committee 25 February 2026 [Draft]
25 Feb 2026 · S6 · Education, Children and Young People Committee
Item of business
Group-based Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
Craig Naylor
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Can I answer the question?The number seems very low, but on how sexual crime is reported, which is a matter for my colleagues to the right, we did an inspection, I think in 2020, on the recording of crime in Scotland, which found that Police Scotland was good at that. It found that it maintained its national accreditation for statistics, which meant that when something was reported to it, we showed that it was effective and efficient in doing that.My understanding is that there is not a category under the crime system for organised child sexual abuse or exploitation. Perhaps that is a deficiency, but would I be content that if a sexual crime was reported to Police Scotland, it would be recorded effectively as a sexual crime? Yes, I would be.We are about to revisit that inspection on the crime system in April, and we are working with the Office for National Statistics to make sure that the methodology that we use will capture whether Police Scotland is effective in how it records the information.Do I think that there are only 13 cases of organised child sexual abuse in Scotland in 2023-24? It depends how you define it, which is one of the difficulties that we have had. What we are working on now, and what Chief Superintendent Taylor is very focused on—I will not speak for Sarah—is a review of the work, back to the inception of Police Scotland, in relation to an individual or more victims with two or more perpetrators. Gathering that data from the wide range of systems that all gather data on the wellbeing and welfare of children and the recording of crime is very difficult, because the systems are not set up in that way.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Douglas Ross)
Con
Good morning and welcome to the eighth meeting of the Education, Children and Young People Committee in 2026. Our first item of business is an evidence sessi...
Professor Alexis Jay (National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group)
I will start with the easier part, which is the question about what grooming is. You will be aware that my personal preference is not to use the term “groomi...
The Convener
Con
We might come on to that, but it is a useful scene setter for what we will discuss. Obviously, there will be a statement in the Parliament later today, and t...
Professor Jay
Yes, I do.
The Convener
Con
I will come to you, Mr Naylor. Is the inspectorate partly responsible? You are now part of this review but, prior to that, the inspectorate was there to give...
Craig Naylor (HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland)
That is a very interesting question. If you are asking whether we are responsible for this, no, we are not responsible for it.
The Convener
Con
I understand that point. Could issues have been spotted sooner if the inspectorates were more concentrated on the issue, or do you think that it was impossib...
Craig Naylor
It might be worth explaining the work that we do around children and young people and adults with support needs—I will focus on children because of this comm...
The Convener
Con
Initial child social work assessment meetings in 2023-24, which is just in the past couple of years, suggested that there were 13 cases of organised child se...
Craig Naylor
I do not know what information you are quoting from.
The Convener
Con
Child social work assessment meetings found that there were 13 reported cases of organised child sexual abuse and exploitation identified at those meetings b...
Craig Naylor
Perhaps I did not make it clear: I do not recognise the information that you are talking about, and I do not know which document it has come from. If it is a...
The Convener
Con
I am asking about the number.
Craig Naylor
Can I answer the question?The number seems very low, but on how sexual crime is reported, which is a matter for my colleagues to the right, we did an inspect...
The Convener
Con
Before I move on, you have made it clear that you are staunchly independent of the Government. So that you can get your response on the record, I put it to y...
Craig Naylor
We have to use the infrastructure, which includes information technology systems that are on the Government’s network and buildings that are provided to us, ...
The Convener
Con
My next question is for our Police Scotland colleagues. There is concern that incidents have been missed, whether that relates to how they are reported, reco...
Deputy Chief Constable Bex Smith (Police Scotland)
I will start and add a few thoughts. It is really important to note that we have a multi-agency approach to child abuse. We cannot work alone and we have goo...
The Convener
Con
You have suggested that things have not been investigated appropriately in the past as they would be now. I will not go into the specifics of the case, but I...
Deputy Chief Constable Smith
I do not think that it would be appropriate to talk about individual cases. The convener is aware that we have agreed to meet the family in question. There w...
Detective Chief Superintendent Sarah Taylor (Police Scotland)
I whole-heartedly agree with the deputy chief constable. The important thing is transparency and I appreciate that there will be concerns around how we look ...
The Convener
Con
Professor Jay, when you appeared before our committee in December, you said that the one issue that your group had“not yet properly clarified is engagement w...
Professor Jay
The point that I made was that we had not resolved how best to become involved and it was a priority for the first meeting of the group, in January of this y...
The Convener
Con
Mr Naylor, I was looking at the three phases of work on the review. At what point do survivors feature in that, or is that aspect being covered by Police Sco...
Craig Naylor
We are looking at the processes and how the bodies work together to make sure that, when someone comes forward and reports, they are given the support that t...
The Convener
Con
DCS Taylor, you have touched on some of the interaction that you will have with victims and survivors. Is there anything that you want to add?
Detective Chief Superintendent Taylor
Obviously, every survivor is unique. Each one has their own experiences. I want to give the reassurance that we will tailor our approach to the individual’s ...
The Convener
Con
Thank you. We go to Bill Kidd.
Bill Kidd (Glasgow Anniesland) (SNP)
SNP
This is an incredibly serious issue. What concerns are there about cross-border group-based child sexual abuse, and how are those concerns already being addr...
Professor Jay
Others will probably have a more technical answer, but I will tell you what I know from my experience, although it is not backed up with figures. I am aware ...