Meeting documents

Resolved

That Cllr Iain McCracken be elected Chairman for the Sub-Committee for the ensuing year.

Resolved

That Cllr Kieron Mallon be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the ensuing year.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the terms of reference for the Sub-Committee

The terms of reference for the Sub-Committee as agreed by the Panel on 17 July 2015 were noted.

This presentation will focus on the extent and profile of CSE in the Thames Valley, lessons learnt and areas the Sub-Committee could look at to ensure there is a consistent approach to preventing CSE across the Thames Valley.

Attendees:-

Anthony Stansfeld – Police and Crime Commissioner

Richard List – Assistant Chief Constable

Detective Superintendent Joe Kidman and Detective Chief Superintendent Gilbert Houalla Thames Valley Police

Oxford Serious Case Review

http://www.oscb.org.uk/2015/07/stocktake-report-into-progress-made-in-tackling-child-sexual-exploitation-in-oxfordshire/

LGA Resource Pack on Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation

Anthony Stansfeld Police and Crime Commissioner, ACC Richard List, DCS Gilbert Houalla and Det Supt Joe Kidman (Head of Strategy for Crime and Protecting Vulnerable People) attended for this item.

ACC Richard List introduced this item. He reported that crime was changing and that burglary had fallen significantly. Crimes that were increasing included Child Sexual Exploitation, modern slavery, cyber crime and forced marriage and a large part of these crimes impacted on vulnerable people. As a result of the changing nature of crime an additional superintendent had been allocated to this area and partnership working was key to address these types of crime.

Det Supt Joe Kidman then gave a detailed presentation on child sexual exploitation which included the following points:-

·         The definition of child sexual exploitation focused on the ‘grooming’ element to get the child involved with the perpetrators which could then escalate to threats and violence. It was exploitative as there was power on one side of the relationship and true consent was never given.

·         There are different types of CSE; group based, offending linked to a street gang, lone offending and online grooming. In Oxfordshire (Bullfinch trial) and Buckinghamshire (Articulate trial) these crimes were group based.

·         The majority of the victims are girls but there are increasing incidences of boys. The majority of crimes relate to lone offenders.

·         With the increase of social media sites victims are being groomed online and it is challenging for the Force to address this area. It is easy for anyone to assume a different identity or to be anonymous on the web. The perpetrator will encourage the victim to post indecent images online which may be shared by a group. One in five indecent images of children shared online were taken by the child themselves. Lone offenders often use social media as the initial point of contact with the child.

·         There are statistics relating to National Child Abuse Prevalence. The highest abuse rates are linked to 18-24 year olds (45%), who are reported as children for this crime. The NSPCC website shows that over 2,400 children were victims of sexual exploitation in gangs and groups from August 2010 to October 2011. This is higher now with increased reporting and better information being available. On the website there is a random survey, with interviews conducted with 2275 children aged 11-17 and 1761 aged 18-24 (retrospective).

·         10% of children on Child Protection Plans had suffered some form of sexual exploitation. The majority of child abuse (80%) is intra familial or with people who are in positions of trust. Sexual exploitation can also be linked with children who are neglected.

·         There is sexual abuse forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact or non-penetrative acts. There are also non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To receive a presentation from the Committee and Governance Adviser on the recent Select Committee Inquiry just published. This should help inform Members on how this piece of work could be used across the Thames Valley.

Attendees

Reece Bowman Committee and Governance Adviser, Bucks County Council

Link to report

https://democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=788&MId=6350&Ver=4

Reece Bowman, Committee and Governance Adviser attended the meeting to present the Bucks County Council Children’s Social Care and Learning Select Committee report called ‘How are we preventing child sexual exploitation and supporting young people in Buckinghamshire’. Appendix B to the report shows the schedule of witnesses and the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders. This Inquiry was undertaken following the publication of the Serious Case Review into events in Oxford. The MASH in Buckinghamshire went live approximately one year ago and the Swan Unit has now been developed to specifically look at CSE (from July 2015). The Swan Unit brings together the police, children’s social care and staff from Barnardos RUSafe. However one of the main concerns was a physical presence from the Health Service in the MASH and the Swan Unit.

Resilience, as a means to protect against all forms of exploitation, is a theme within the report and the building of resilience in young children should be a top priority of those working with children, particularly Children’s Services and the Buckinghamshire Learning Trust and schools. One of the recommendations relates to developing a toolkit for use in primary schools to help schools foster resilience in their pupils. This would also help with preventing radicalisation.

In 2014 Buckinghamshire Children’s Social Care and the Safeguarding Children Board were assessed as ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted and improvement work is now well underway. There was a recent court case involving men from Aylesbury resulting in several prosecutions. Paul Hammond asked when the Council would be inspected and was informed that it would be 18 months afterwards. The Ofsted rating had an impact on recruitment and retention of social workers which then had a self-perpetuating effect on staff. The Council were working on reducing the amount of agency staff. The Council had requested a Peer Review which had been undertaken and were now working towards a ‘Requires improvement’ grading. It was important to have permanent staff in the First Response and Children in Need Teams.

In answer to a question Members noted that the Local Safeguarding Children Board was an independent body with an Independent Chairman which was funded by the partnership. The Chief Executive of the Local Authority would appoint the Chairman. The LSCB were not held to account by another body [A government report states that the Chief Executive and Lead Members, through scrutiny committees, should be more central to the governance process to ensure that the Chair and the Board are held to account]. The LSCB are required to write an Annual Report.

Recommendation to the Panel

That the Panel Members be asked to identify which of their Authorities scrutinise their LSCB’s and at what frequency

The report also makes reference to the role of schools and the role of hotels in terms of awareness raising. Reference was made to the play ‘Chelsea Choice’ and the recommendation that the Thames Valley Police should roll out the Hotel Watch scheme in Buckinghamshire (and ideally across the whole area).  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Iain McCracken to provide an update on a recent conference he attended on CSE.

www.policycommunications.co.uk/events/cse/downloads/Policy-Communications-Tackling-CSE.pptx

Cllr Iain McCracken gave a report on the conference he had attended run by Policy Communications which included presentations from the following:-

·         Children’s Commissioner

·         NWG Network

·         Independent Association of LSCB Chairs

·         Research Fellow from University of Bedfordshire

·         HMIC

·         College of Policing

·         Barrister (No 5 Chambers)

·         NHS England

·         Avon and Somerset Constabulary

·         Victim Support

·         London Borough of Waltham Forest

·         Safer London Foundation

Cllr Iain McCracken reported that it was apparent from the presentations at the conference and this meeting that there were many organisations involved in preventing CSE. Even within one organisation there was a further layer of complexity such as in the Health Service where the presenters slide showed how difficult it was to work your way through such a large organisation to find the correct contacts and links. What came across very clearly was the need for inter agency communication, and the need for clear aims and objectives and strong scrutiny.

For the Sub-Committee to discuss ways of working and future agenda items and areas of questioning.

It was agreed that the Sub-Committee should meet three times a year if possible. Questions would be sent to the PCC to provide further assurances on CSE prevention as there was not sufficient time to address them in the meeting.

Recommendations to the Panel include:-

·         Understanding where there was an issue with Language schools

·         Whether further work could be carried out on the recommendation not carried forward in relation to the Bullfinch Trial on prevention strategies

·         Scrutiny of effective MASH models and informing best practice

·         Panel Members be asked to identify which of their Authorities scrutinise their LSCB’s and at what frequency

·         Asking the PCC whether the Thames Valley Police could roll out Hotel Watch across the Thames Valley

·         Scrutiny of co-ordinated approach to licensing in the Thames Valley and transportation of children

·         Asking relevant Cabinet Members when commissioning whether they could ask sexual health providers to facilitate the sharing of information on repeat referrals within a confidential environment for high risk children

The following areas came up in the meeting that Members may wish to consider further:-

·         Themed areas such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation

·         The PCC is prioritising this area through his Police and Crime Plan but what is the long term Action Plan for CSE?

·         Co-ordination of partnership working overall and looking at relationship with the Health Service and Schools and linkages between HWB, Community Safety Partnerships and Panel Members

·         What further work could be done to reach ‘invisible communities’ and preventing CSE

·         Management of missing persons investigations

·         Perpetrator profiles and siblings

·         Awareness raising in communities/safeguarding issues at large events

·         Prosecution and relationships with the CPS (however the Police are extremely positive of their working relationship and work being undertaken to improve this area)

Other areas in the Terms of Reference can also be considered.

Further meetings will be organised by the Scrutiny Officer.