§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with(a) his European counterparts and (b) senior police officers regarding tackling child prostitution; what proposals were examined; and if he will make a statement. [75113]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthDiscussions with European colleagues about the problem of child prostitution have been largely in the context of negotiations over a Draft European Union Council Framework Decision on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. This will require member states to criminalise particular aspects of the sexual exploitation620W of children aged up to 18, including those involved in prostitution. The UK fully supports this framework decision as a significant step to increase protection for children throughout Europe. We hope it will be agreed shortly.
Strengthening our laws to meet the requirements of the framework decision will form part of our plans to reform the framework of laws dealing with sexual offences on which we will be publishing a paper later this autumn. This follows on from "Setting the Boundaries", the report of the Review of Sex Offences published in July 2000, which made a number of recommendations to strengthen the law, including providing better legal safeguards against those who seek to exploit children in prostitution.
We also issued in May 2000 guidance to the police and other agencies on "Safeguarding Children Involved in Prostitution", which highlighted the importance of children involved in prostitution being treated primarily as abused children. This followed discussions with representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the other agencies concerned.
Moreover, we have been supporting under the Crime Reduction Programme a number of local projects aimed at evaluating best practice in dealing with prostitution, including how best to help young people leave behind their involvement in prostitution. All these projects are supported or led by the police and involve local agencies working together to find practical solutions. The aim is to identify the most effective strategies so that these can be disseminated.