POLICE in West Yorkshire have been handed £1.2 million in special grant funding to help investigations into historic child sexual exploitation cases.

Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin worked closely with West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Buns-Williamson and West Yorkshire Police to secure the Home office funding.

It comes after Ms Brabin asked Home Secretary Sajid Javid for a “cast iron guarantee” in the House of Commons that West Yorkshire Police will be given the resources it needs to protect CSE victims and deliver justice for survivors.

We have a responsibility to the survivors to do all we can to ensure they are given the justice they deserve
- MP Tracy Brabin

MP Ms Brabin said: “It is incredibly important that our over-stretched police force has the resources it needs to seek justice for the brave survivors who have come forward, and to protect those at risk of exploitation.

“We have a responsibility to the survivors to do all we can to ensure they are given the justice they deserve so I am pleased the Home Office has listened to our case and awarded the funding to support these vital investigations.”

Mark Burns-Williamson, the Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “I am grateful that our work with Tracy Brabin MP has resulted in this money being awarded that will help with the considerable investigation costs into historic CSE cases.

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“The success of being awarded these vital funds demonstrates the importance of coming together in partnership to ensure we are helping some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and would like to thank Tracy for raising this in Parliament on our behalf.”

The £1.2 million in special grant funding has been awarded to assist with exceptional costs in the 2019/20 financial year when dealing with historic CSE cases.

Assistant Chief Constable Catherine Hankinson, added: “This funding has meant the Force has been able to invest money to fund additional temporary staff to increase our capability to investigate CSE across West Yorkshire and particularly in the West of the County (in Kirklees, Calderdale and Bradford Districts).”

In January Ms Brabin called on the Government to give a guarantee that West Yorkshire Police will be given the resources it needs to protect victims of child sex abuse and bring perpetrators to justice.

Her calls came after 55 people were arrested in Bradford, Batley and Dewsbury in connection with non-recent child sex abuse.

The funding follows the announcement earlier this month that Bradford Safeguarding Children Board will commission a serious case review into historic child sexual exploitation in Bradford.

A case, which concluded in February, saw nine men were jailed for a total of 132 years for their roles in the grooming, rape and sexual exploitation of two vulnerable girls from a Bradford care home.