"What happened to CSE taskforce pledge?"

The new measure was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron after the Rotherham MP led an inquiry alongside children’s charity Barnardo’s.

.4It called for a small permanent team to act as a national resource when organised child abuse issues emerge,as happens with slavery and arranged marriage.

The Government held a CSE summit and pledged to establish the taskforce in an announcement on March 3 last year, saying the team would be deployed around the country where needed. 

Ms Champion, shadow minister for preventing abuse and domestic violence, said: “It’s appalling we still don’t have a national taskforce for tackling child sexual exploitation.

“For the last 18 months I have been raising the urgent need for it.

“At the summit in March last year I was pleased to see the Government make a commitment to establishing such a taskforce.    

“But they haven’t delivered on that pledge, or others to protect victims.  

“A year on and we still don’t have details on the scope, constitution or objective of this taskforce.”

The Government also promised a new whistleblowing portal to bring CSE to light and spot patterns, and consultation on extending the offence of wilful neglect to children’s social care, education and councillors.

Karen Bradley, minister for preventing abuse, exploitation and crime, said: “We are currently finalising the way the taskforce, to be known as the Child Sexual Exploitation Response Unit, will work. The response unit will be launched in the spring.”

Ms Bradley said a 12-week consultation considering the child neglect offence changes would also launch this spring.

She added: “This will enable the Government to lay proposals before Parliament by September.”