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The Children’s Commissioner for England has called on the government to strengthen the Crime and Policing Bill to ensure children are properly protected from criminal exploitation.
Speaking ahead of the Bill’s second reading in the House of Lords on 16 October 2025, Dame Rachel de Souza said the legislation is a crucial opportunity to make England safer for children – but warned that, as drafted, it risks falling short.
The Bill introduces a new offence of child criminal exploitation, which the Commissioner described as “welcome and long overdue”. However, she warned that a clause allowing perpetrators to claim they “reasonably believed” a child over 12 was an adult could undermine the law’s effectiveness.
“If a 13-year-old child is exploited to traffic drugs or steal, but the offender claims they believed the child was older, they could avoid conviction entirely. This cannot be right,” she said.
Dame Rachel argued that exploitation of any child for criminal gain should always be a mandatory offence, regardless of perceived age. She cautioned that retaining the clause could replicate long-criticised loopholes in child sexual exploitation cases, where abusers have used similar defences to avoid accountability.
She also highlighted the risk of prejudice against vulnerable groups, noting that perpetrators often target children who appear more mature due to past trauma, and that Black and mixed-heritage children may be disproportionately affected.
Beyond the legal changes, Dame Rachel called for wider reform to ensure exploited children are treated as victims rather than offenders. She urged government to:
Reform the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) so that victims of exploitation are automatically referred for support.
Create a national strategy and statutory guidance on child criminal exploitation, uniting police, social care, education and health agencies.
“When someone is convicted of exploiting a child, the system must ensure that child is treated as a victim, not criminalised,” she said. “No child should ever be punished for their own exploitation.”
The Commissioner added that exploitation is often linked to organised crime networks, including practices such as cuckooing and internal concealment, and must be recognised as a systemic safeguarding issue rather than a series of isolated incidents.
Dame Rachel de Souza concluded:
“The new offence of child criminal exploitation has the potential to be transformative – but only if it is built on strong safeguards, clear accountability and compassion.
Making these changes to the Bill will ensure that every child victim of exploitation is seen, protected and supported, not blamed. As decision-makers and adults, we have a duty to keep children safe and to act now.”
