Agenda item

The Panel have requested a report outlining information in relation to children or adults at risk of exploitation and information on multi-agency working which reduces and identifies the risk.

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People introduced this report to the Panel, a summary is set out below.

Key Priorities for the Exploitation Sub-Group

Commitment 1: Prevention & Early Intervention  Prevent children, young people and vulnerable people  from becoming exploited through effective leadership, governance and a wider culture embedded within organisations and communities that recognises the root causes of Exploitation & Serious Youth Violence (SYV) the signs and risk indicators and do all they can to tackle them.

Commitment 2: Prepare-To develop a comprehensive and accurate intelligence picture which will inform local partnership understanding of context, and locations of concern to enable swift coordinated multi-agency responses to safeguard children and vulnerable adults and prevent, divert or prosecute those who seek to facilitate and /or perpetrate exploitation, abuse and harm.

Commitment 3: Protect -To protect children and young people and vulnerable adults who are at risk of exploitation as well as those who are already victims and survivors.

Commitment 4: Pursue -To commit to ensuring that we will do all we can to disrupt and pursue perpetrators who are sexually and or criminally exploiting children, young people and vulnerable adults and where possible prosecute them.

Commitment 5: Engagement - We shall engage with all children and young people at risk of, or experiencing CSE/CCE, as well as their families and communities, to ensure that their voices are heard and responded to.

Operation TOPAZ

Avon and Somerset Constabulary response to Child Sexual Exploitation is Operation Topaz. Soon this will also encompass Criminal Exploitation. Topaz is a perpetrator disruption team enabling the force to proactively protect the highest risk child sexual exploitation victims by developing opportunities to disrupt suspects.

Topaz recognizes that disrupting suspects is often the most effective way of safeguarding victims of child sexual exploitation. Topaz enables timely disruption, by any means available, including directing partner agencies to intervene.

Avon & Somerset Police and Children’s Social Care work closely together to ensure that all young people from ACE/Willow are referred to TOPAZ via the Avon and Somerset Police Intelligence Reporting Portal.

The Local Authority receive monthly reports from TOPAZ in respect of young people and perpetrators that have been flagged and this report also feeds into and is crossed reference at the Operational Exploitation Meeting (OEM) which takes place bimonthly.

The Operational Exploitation Meeting

Bath and North East Somerset have adopted a contextual safeguarding approach to develop an Operational Exploitation Meeting (OEM) to address the extra familial risks that are posed to our young people. This group meets bi-monthly.

This is a multi-agency meeting that:

• Identifies those young people being exploited criminally or sexually, and seek to support, disrupt to reduce harm and ensure support is in place.

• Identifies vulnerable adults who are at risk of exploitation/Cuckooing and seek to disrupt activity, reduce harm and ensure support is in place.

• Identifies spaces where young people associate, can experience abuse and cause concern such as parks, housing estates, stair wells within the community in order to disrupt activity.

• Identifies workers of such establishments that may have contact with young people and vulnerable adults that may be exploited and offer training and pathways to report such abuse.

• Identifies adult perpetrators who are exploiting others with a view to action being taken to disrupt/support or prosecute (dependent on circumstances)

The information shared at OEM helps to enable early identification of those young people who may be at risk of exploitation, vulnerable adults, and of those who may pose an exploitation threat to our young people. Additionally, we are able to better identify specific hotspots and locations where there may be an increased chance of exploitation occurring, which subsequently strengthens our responses and enables the raising of awareness across partner agencies.

Serious Youth Violence

A key development in the last 2 years has been the establishment of a multi-agency Serious Violence Operational Group to identify individuals, networks and places of concern; this group meeting on monthly basis and reports to the exploitation sub-group.

The Police Serious Violence App is used to identify individuals at high risk of involvement in serious violence as victims or perpetrators (and often, both) and direct notifications can also be received from any agency.

The group has recently extended its focus from under 18s to under 25s and the

intention is to eventually consider all age groups. The methodology is developing and the activity depends on a continuing strong partnership with Police.

Serious violence is concentrated in Bath city centre with increases in Keynsham, Twerton and Somer Valley. Robberies and hospital knife attendances are mainly in the after school period, whereas violence and knife injury admissions are more often in the early hours of the morning, suggesting links with the night time economy and domestic abuse. Victims of knife crime at hospital are mainly in the 25-34 age group and usually male. Most children who have been violent are aged 15-17 and almost all male.

As part of the Exploitation sub-group a multi-agency Thematic Review of Knife Crime is being undertaken to look at areas of good practice and any areas of development.

County Lines

Work continues across BANES using local policing neighbourhood staff, intelligence units and proactive teams including regular welfare visits and engagement to those vulnerable from cuckooing or drugs misuse, participation in nationally run operations, misuse of drugs warrants and intelligence driven targeting of known dealers.

Working in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police County Lines task force to target and disrupt the line holders, two County Lines were dismantled, those controlling the lines arrested, charged and remanded awaiting trial (6 persons in total, 4 from London, 2 local people) – one line was operating in the Paulton/Midsomer Norton area and one in Bath in 2020.

Three other lines in Bath disrupted by police activities whilst trying to set up over the last 12 months and as a result none have been able to become established, such that there are no known active County Lines currently in BANES.

The Chairman asked the following three questions on behalf of Councillor Liz Hardman.

Referring to page 47 she asked if we have any figures for the numbers of care leavers aged 18 to 25 years that have experienced exploitation and are still at risk from perpetrators of sexual and criminal exploitation harm.

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People replied that this figure is 9.

Referring to page 49 she asked how robust the figures are relating to Missing. She added that the number of children reported missing to the police who are not known to children's social care seems quite low.  She asked do the numbers in the table relate to individual children or are they individual cases (i.e. could these numbers refer to one child who has gone missing multiple times?)

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People replied that the numbers relate (in all cases) to individual children rather than individual missing episodes. She added that we do have children who are repeatedly reported missing, however, they are returned quickly and social workers are working with missing person co-ordinators in the police to put in place specific trigger plans for children and young people as needed.

She said that children and young people go missing from a range of different placements. Some of the triggers in relation to going missing are attachment and trauma issues. Some are linked to exploitation but not exclusively. There are currently no looked after children missing.

Referring to page 43 she asked if it was known what proportion of serious violence reported is serious domestic abuse.

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People said that she would provide a written response to that question. She added that a triage system has been setup for victims of domestic abuse.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson commented that she was surprised not to see any mention of Youth Connect South West within the report and asked if officers were aware of their work.

The Service Manager for Care Outcomes replied that the Council does work with them through a commissioned service on a child by child basis.

Councillor Paul May commented that he would like the Panel to receive a future report that details the Council’s voluntary sector engagement with regard to the Panel’s remit.

Councillor Andy Wait asked if future reports could include more detail relating to gender / ethnicity.

The Assistant Director for Children and Young People replied that a data dashboard was being developed that would hopefully help with this query.

The Panel RESOLVED to:

i)  Note the content of the report and the range of arrangements across B&NES to recognise and respond to concerns around exploitation.

ii)  Agree that the report provides assurance that the B&NES Community Safety and Safeguarding Partnership does adequately focus on Exploitation and have relevant policy and procedures in place.