Overnight (Friday night of course) The Petitions team of the UK government sent out an update to the huge petition to request the release of the Home Office's Rape Gang report. This petition currently has 124,368 signatures.
The full text of the response is at the bottom of this post if you want to skip.
Their email (picture above) doesn't even include the text of the letter they wrote to the Home Secretary, it has a link to a page which has, as it's top link right now, a link to a PDF of the document. So it's not very easy to read on mobile and you have to go through two clicks and you shouldn't be clicking on links in email unless you know what you're doing.
It reminds me of a modern day version of Douglas Adams quote about finding things at his local planning office.
They link to this page but here's a direct link to the document as a PDF and I've copy pasted the text below which should be far easier to read on mobile.
It's clear from this response that they are being deluged non stop with complaints about the response to this petition.
My Committee has already received a significant volume of correspondence complaining about the Government’s response
It's also fun to note that the government is getting criticised for being too slow:
Your department’s response to this petition was also substantially late. A response to this e-petition was requested on 6 March, but not received until 24 April.
And that's great. That atrocious response can be found here. and was widely criticised online.
The Response
Dear Priti
5 May 2020
I am writing to request a revised Government response to e-petition 300239, calling on the Government to release the Home Office's Grooming Gang Review in full.
My Committee considered your department’s response to this petition at its meeting on Tuesday 5 May, and agreed that it did not directly address the request made by the petitioner, and therefore did not meet the standard for Government responses that has been agreed with the Leader of the House.
Your department’s response explains the Government’s current work on child sexual abuse, which includes investigating the characteristics of group-based child sexual exploitation, and states that this work will inform the Government’s forthcoming strategy. However, the response fails to respond to the petitioner’s request for this work to be published.
My Committee has already received a significant volume of correspondence complaining about the Government’s response, and I am sure that your department has been receiving similar correspondence directly.
Your department’s response to this petition was also substantially late. A response to this e-petition was requested on 6 March, but not received until 24 April. It has been agreed with the Leader of the House that the Government will respond within 21 days, making your response four weeks late. I fully appreciate that the Government is currently under significant pressure, but it is disappointing to receive a late response that also fails to adequately respond to the petition.
I am therefore writing on behalf of the Committee to request a revised response that directly responds to the request made by the petition. This should clearly state whether the Government will publish its research into the characteristics of group-based child sexual exploitation. If the Government does plan to publish this, your response should set out in what form and when. If the Government does not plan to publish this, your response should explain the reasons for this.
I would be grateful if you could provide a revised response before the House rises for Whitsun, on Wednesday 20 May, given the substantial time that signatories to this petition have already been waiting for the Government response.
I am copying this letter to the Leader of the House, with whom the standards for Government responses and timeframes within which these should be provided have been agreed.
Best wishes,
Catherine McKinnell MP Chair of the Petitions Committee
