National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group Data Short Life Working Group minutes: January 2026

Attendees and apologies

Chair

•    Alastair McAlpine, Chief Statistician, Scottish Government

Group members in attendance

•    Office of Chief Statistician Officials, Scottish Government
•    Child Protection Unit Officials, Scottish Government
•    Children and Families Analysis Officials, Scottish Government
•    Justice Analytical Services Officials, Scottish Government
•    Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection (CELCIS)
•    Police Scotland
•    COSLA
•    NHS
•    Education Scotland
•    Scottish Children’s Reporter’s Administration (SCRA)
•    Social Work Scotland

Apologies

•    Barnardo’s 
•    Edinburgh University

Others in attendance

•    Care Inspectorate

Secretariat

•    Child Protection Unit, Scottish Government
 

Items and actions

Welcome, introductions and apologies

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted all apologies. Each member was asked to briefly introduce themselves.

The chair set out that the key purpose of this group is to coordinate and oversee activity to improve Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) data in Scotland. The key analytical question we are looking to answer is ‘how do we get an understanding of scale and nature of CSAE in Scotland’. This group is proposed to run for the next calendar year and will develop proposals/recommendations to improve CSAE data.

The chair highlighted that the group would report back to the National CSAE Strategic Group at each of their meetings, either a written update or verbal. The Chair will be meeting with Professor Alexis Jay to discuss reporting arrangement further and seek her views on plans that are discussed in this meeting.

The minutes from each meeting will be published on the Scottish Government’s website to ensure transparency. Members will be invited to review the minutes before they are published.

The group will meet once a month for the first three months before making an assessment on the frequency of meetings for the rest of the year. 

National Review of Group-Based Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

The Care Inspectorate gave an overview of the joint national review of group-based CSAE being carried out alongside His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland. As the methodology is still in draft and is due to be published in February, the chair asked if a further update could be provided once this has been agreed. 

The proceeding discussion included:
•    how the work of this group and the review could avoid duplication between this group and the national review
•    the importance of regularly linking with the four inspectorates throughout the year to avoid overburdening the sector
It was agreed that the Care Inspectorate will be invited back to the group at the relevant time to provide more detail, ensure alignment between work and keep regular links between the review and the short life working group.

Terms of Reference

The chair shared the proposed aims and principles of the group and welcomed feedback on these, along with the rest of the terms of reference. 

It was agreed that the terms of reference should clarify that this group will look at all forms of CSAE, following the previous item on national review specifically looking at group-based CSAE.

Members welcomed that managing interdependencies with other CSAE workstreams was included. It was noted that the amount of work being carried out to address CSAE will continue to require resources from the people whose data will be important to this group and this group should consider how to manage additional data burdens. 

Members highlighted that we should not lose sight of related data on areas such as child criminal exploitation and familial harm. It was agreed that while the group will focus on CSAE, there will also be opportunities to improve related data, and the ToRs will be updated to reflect this.  

The Secretariat will work with the chair to update the terms of reference following members’ feedback, and these will be agreed at the next meeting in February.

Proposed Workplan

Feedback was welcomed on the proposed workplan. 

There was broad agreement around the proposed workplan. However, members highlighted that timelines were ambitious and that we should consider resource implications. It was highlighted that communication with Local Authorities was imperative to ensure a clear understanding of how this work aligns with the National Review.  

The chair recognised the need to prioritise work that will make the biggest impact and that some workstreams may not be achievable. He also noted that there may be some work that can be categorised as achievable within the timeframe of the SLWG and other work may lead to recommendations at the end of the SLWG to be addressed beyond the timeframe of the Group.

There were discussions about the suitability and quality of datasets which may impact the eventual quality of the outputs from the work done by the group. The chair reminded members that while these concerns should be noted that the group was being joined by a number of data and statistical experts who routinely know and handle issues related to data quality.

He suggested that they can provide support to assess the quality and suitability of data at an early stage, with the aim to improve the quality using statistical techniques frequently used in the development of official statistics.

There were also discussions about whether this work should take a national or regional approach; given the key role of Local Authorities.

The chair suggested that while the national picture is important, there may need to be consideration given to focus on regional CSAE reporting and data, with an aim to expand out solutions to provide the national picture.

Some concerns were raised about the approaches being taken and the resourcing implications for partners. The chair asked that a standing agenda item be included in further meetings to discuss the workplan and associated risks.  

Next steps and close

Members were reminded that the Chair and secretariat were happy to have conversations with any member of the group.

The next meeting will take place in February, and the secretariat will look at an alternative date for this, noting some members would be unable to make the current date.

Actions

•    chair to meet with Alexis Jay to seek her views on proposed plans and aims of the group
•    chair will attend the CSAE Strategic Group Meeting on 28 January to provide an update on what has been discussed at this meeting
•    chair to follow up with individual members where data sharing agreements may need to be put in place
•    secretariat to identify more suitable dates for second and third meetings 
•    secretariat to keep in regular contact with the Care Inspectorate and consider inviting to a future meeting once they have more information to share on the National Review
•    secretariat and Chair to update the Terms of Reference following feedback from members
•    workplan to be a standing agenda item for future meetings