What its position is on the finding of the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Workforce Learning and Development Subgroup in its in…

The National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Group has been established to increase cross-sectoral coordination and capability to address the risks and harms of CSAE in Scotland. This includes a focus on better equipping frontline staff with the skills and knowledge to identify and disrupt harm and continued training on interagency referral discussions to better share information.Reflecting this continuing focus, the Group agreed that the Workforce Learning and Development short life working group sub-group should become a permanent sub-group working at pace to implement progress towards the recommendations from their report.In direct response to the recommendations on improving training standards, the Scottish Government has provided £42,000 to develop a pilot for the Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse ‘Practice Leads Programme’ in Scotland to further equip professionals to respond to sexual harm. This funding is part of the additional £220,000 to be invested this financial year to enhance support for victims and families impacted by sexual offending and improve access to training for professionals to respond to sexual harm.Professor Alexis Jay chaired a meeting of the National CSAE Group on 28 January where an update was provided by the workforce subgroup on its engagement with frontline workers. The subgroup intends to provide specific recommendations to the National Group at a future meeting which will inform our approach to any actions required to improve practice and skills which may include further developing or updating training standards to address CSAE and related harms.In December 2025, I announced the Independent National Review of local responses to group-based CSAE. This work will be led by four independent national inspectorates and will include scrutiny of local areas’ understanding, skills and response to CSAE, including that of frontline workers. This rigorous work is expected to also support identification of further opportunities to enhance workforce knowledge and practice on CSAE.These activities sit alongside the ongoing improvement work led by the Scottish Government on workforce skills and responsibilities, including continued implementation of the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 which was most recently updated in 2023 to provide further information and resources to local areas on approaches to identify, prevent and address children at risk of, or experiencing CSAE.