Have lessons really been learned about the child grooming crisis?

It is easy to demand more public spending on one priority after another, but there is certainly a case for modest increases in funding for prevention, investigation and information-sharing

We learnt more about the sexual exploitation of children after a review into grooming gangs was ordered last year by then-home secretary Sajid Javid. But not enough is yet being done to stamp out this widespread form of child abuse.

The government and local authorities say that lessons have been learned from the inquiry, from a previous inquiry carried out by Rotherham council and from a series of court cases in which men were jailed for sexual offences against girls.

But Sammy Woodhouse, a victim who helped expose the scandal, told The Independent: “They haven’t learned anything.” She is supported by Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, who said: “Too many times, the government has said it will ‘learn lessons’, yet 19,000 children are still at risk of sexual exploitation.”

There is no question that the response has been too slow, and that many girls are still being exploited today.

There are many reasons for the uncertainty of the official response. One is the danger of exacerbating racism. Thanks to the courage of those such as Ms Champion, it is now widely accepted that there is a particular problem of Pakistani-British men exploiting white British girls in places such as Rotherham, Rochdale and Bradford. It was impressive that Mr Javid, of Pakistani heritage himself, was prepared to confront this aspect of the problem so directly.

Another problem is sexism: the assumption in some quarters that the girls entrapped by grooming gangs are responsible for their plight, being lured by drink, drugs or money. Both factors make it hard for local political leaders and police forces to give the crisis the priority it deserves.

“I still hear a lot about the authorities that aren’t doing things as they should,” Ms Woodhouse told The Independent. “If the police won’t act on reports, people feel they’re not being listened to or supported properly.” And that means information is not being collected and shared as it should be.

A third factor inhibiting the official response is undoubtedly the problem of resources. It is easy for editorials to demand more public spending on one priority after another, but there is certainly a case – if public spending constraints are eased slightly, as they should be over the next five years – for modest increases in funding for prevention, investigation and information-sharing.

Until the factors holding back effective action on child sexual exploitation are dealt with at the source, we cannot truly be said to have “learned the lessons” of this terrible story.