Critical Gaps in the Mandatory Reporting Provisions of the Crime and Policing Bill

Abstract

Despite the endemic problem of child sexual abuse in the UK, this article identifies four critical gaps in the mandatory reporting provisions of the UK Government's Crime and Policing Bill 2025. Leadership and supervisory roles are excluded from the reporting duty. Only the categories of disclosed and witnessed abuse are covered, despite the importance of indications of abuse and data-driven analysis for effective child protection. No criminal penalties are proposed for failure to report, and confidentiality duties for religious and medical sectors remain open to interpretation or to possible future exemption. The Bill risks repeating the same systemic failures that led to its creation, thus failing to deliver the best practice reform that survivors of child sexual abuse were promised.