The Home Secretary has announced people working with children in England will have a new legal duty to report “signs or suspicions” of child sex abuse.

Suella Braverman will announce new measures to beef up child protection on Sunday.

Writing for the Mail on Sunday in an article published this evening, Ms Braverman set out the key part of her plan – to toughen the responsibilities of professionals with safeguarding responsibilities for children.

People who work with children will have to pass on suspicions under a new “mandatory reporting” requirement.

Ms Braverman also suggested Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would announce further plans on Monday to take on grooming gangs.

Ms Braverman wrote in her Mail on Sunday piece: “Government should introduce a mandatory duty for professionals with safeguarding responsibilities, to report any signs or suspicions of child sexual abuse.

“Had such a duty been in place, countless children would have been better protected against abuse by grooming gangs, and against child sexual abusers more widely.

“That is why I have committed to introduce Mandatory Reporting across the whole of England.”

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