FOI reference: FOI-2025-3182
You asked
I write to you to ask for the total number of convictions in the UK in reference to the grooming gangs, also to request the reason why the statistics of sexual offences by ethnicity has still not been made public.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the specific information requested. Our publications and data concern crime as it is experienced by victims, or as it is recorded by the police.
We have produced some data on defendants and offenders of sexual offences for year ending December 2017 as part of the 2018 'Sexual offending: victimisation and the path through the criminal justice system' release within the Ministry of Justice appendix tables. However, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are primarily responsible for data on offenders. They publish Statistics each quarter and the MoJ's outcomes by offence data tool: December 2024. It allows you to filter by various categories including; offence group, ethnicity and other breakdowns. If you have any questions, the MoJ may be able to help you further and can be contacted at CJS_Statistics@justice.gov.uk.
We run the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), which is a victimisation survey which asks respondents about their experiences of crime.
The Crime in England and Wales: Annual Trend and Demographic Tables show breakdowns of victimisation over time and by various demographic characteristics.
Table 2 of the Sexual offences prevalence and victim characteristics, England and Wales dataset shows the prevalence of sexual assault in the last year among adults aged 16 to 59, by type of assault and sex, from the year ending March 2005, when these questions were introduced, to the year ending March 2022. Table 4 of this dataset provides a breakdown of the prevalence of sexual offences by personal characteristics, including ethnicity.
Statistics produced from the CSEW are for England and Wales only. For crime statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland, you would need to contact Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency directly.
If you have any other questions, please email us at crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk and we will endeavour to help.