Baroness Casey’s report, the National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, external, also found a “mismatch” in the way the way the Metropolitan Police and local authorities record child abuse.
Published in June, it found the ethnicity of people involved had been “shied away from” by authorities.
On Saturday, Scotland Yard said group-based offending was “particularly insidious and devastating in its profound impact on the children affected”.
In a statement, the force added: “Since 2022, there have been significant improvements to how the Met identifies and investigates group-based offending, including training for 11,000 frontline officers and the expansion of our child exploitation teams.
“In the last year we have solved three times more cases of child sexual exploitation – representing 134 more suspects charged.
“Our commitment to safeguarding all victims of such terrible offences and bringing those responsible to justice is absolute.”
