Police forces across England and Wales are to receive access to advanced AI-enabled tools designed to help identify, expose and dismantle criminal networks, as part of a £426,000 government investment in the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) Programme.

The funding will extend the TOEX Capabilities Environment – a suite of investigative apps and tools – from the 13 forces currently using it to all forces in England and Wales. The move is intended to bolster efforts to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from grooming gangs and other forms of organised exploitation.

The expansion forms part of the first phase of Operation Beaconport, a new national policing initiative launched following Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

Led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Taskforce and the TOEX Programme, Operation Beaconport aims to address historic failures, enhance complex investigations, and ensure offenders are pursued while victims are safeguarded.

To date, the TOEX Capabilities Environment has been used 12,500 times by the 13 forces with access, saving over £20 million and 16,000 investigator hours. Officials expect those figures to rise significantly once all police forces are included.

The tools will be available for any type of criminal investigation and include the Data Analysis and Review Tool – which processes large datasets to identify communication patterns and suspect relationships – and TOEX Translate, which bulk-translates foreign language text from seized mobile devices.

Operation Beaconport has already begun reviewing more than 1,200 closed cases of group-based child sexual exploitation that did not result in prosecution. Following these reviews, recommendations will be made to reinvestigate improperly closed cases and, where appropriate, for the Crown Prosecution Service to reassess previous charging decisions.

Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said: “The sexual exploitation of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes and we must punish perpetrators, provide justice for victims and survivors, and protect today’s children from harm.

In June, this government responded to Baroness Casey’s report by announcing a national inquiry to direct targeted local reviews, alongside a new national police operation – measures that will deliver real results – and we’ve wasted no time in making these happen.

Baroness Casey flagged the need to upgrade police information systems to improve investigations and safeguard children at risk. Today we are investing in these critical tools.”

The TOEX Programme, part of the Home Office-funded CSE Taskforce, provides intelligence, analytical and technical expertise for complex investigations into crimes such as modern slavery, county lines and child sexual exploitation.

Deputy Chief Constables Becky Riggs, NPCC lead for child protection and abuse investigation, and Dave McLaren, NPCC lead for the national intelligence portfolio, said: “This funding gives every force access to proven tools that make a real difference in our ability to investigate complex crimes, safeguard victims, and pursue offenders more effectively.

The TOEX Programme is a powerful example of what we can achieve when we combine operational insight with innovative technology. The national rollout of these tools will improve outcomes for victims and deliver a more consistent, intelligence-led approach across the country.”

The Home Secretary has also written to all forces, urging them to ensure they fulfil their obligation to collect suspect ethnicity data, as part of the government’s transparency and accountability commitments.

Graeme Biggar, NCA Director General, said: “Following the publication of Baroness Casey’s report in June, we have been working with policing partners to develop and implement a national operation, in response to recommendation 2 of the report – to establish a comprehensive national response to group-based CSE across England and Wales.

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Providing reassurance to victims, survivors and their families is our main focus. We must and will ensure their voices are heard and collectively, we will restore confidence that the law enforcement response to child sexual exploitation is without fear or favour, is evidence based and not undermined by fears of inflaming community tensions.”

Vicki Green, CEO of the Marie Collins Foundation, welcomed the move: “We welcome the Home Office’s investment in technology that helps detect offenders and protect children.

“The use of AI tools to support faster investigations, identify victims earlier, and bring offenders to justice is a vital step forward. Technology used to safeguard children and ensure perpetrators have nowhere to hide is something we wholeheartedly applaud.”