Agenda item

To receive the Annual Report of the Child Sexual Exploitation Task Group updating Members on the work undertaken by the Group to date. 

                                                (Report No.18)  (Non-Key)

Members are asked to note that the Task Group was established by Council on 25^th February 2015 with a requirement to report back to Council on a bi annual basis regarding their work. 

Councillor Jansev Jemal moved and Councillor Elaine Hayward seconded the annual report of the Child Sexual Exploitation and Associated Risks to Children and Young People Task Group. 

NOTED

1.               That the task group had been set up a year ago to review the processes and procedures in place for dealing with young people in vulnerable situations. 

2.               A lot of ground had been covered.  Some members of the group had attended multi agency meetings. 

3.               Concern was expressed that training sessions held for members on this subject had been poorly attended.

4.               The work of the group had thrown up more questions than answers and further research would be carried out, including on gangs and run away children.

5.               Thanks were given to the other members of the group for their commitment and passion and tribute paid to the officers involved particularly Anne Stoker (Head of Safeguarding, Quality and Principal Social Worker) and Tony Theodoulou (Interim Director of Children’s Services).

6.               Third sector organisations were also praised for the tremendous work that they undertook. 

7.               Praise from the Opposition Lead for the commitment of officers involved and a plea that all members should make themselves aware of the issues and attend the training provided. 

8.               The support of the Leader for the work of the task group, that he had been shocked by some of the examples that had come to his attention.  The Council had an excellent department, but complacency had to be guarded against.  It was important that members played an active role, that there should be a transparent approach and that exploitation should not occur in this borough.  He welcomed the cross party wish to work to prevent it and hoped all members would support the proposals.  

9.               Making the case for the under reporting of issues affecting 16 and 17 year olds and for better mental health support was also important. 

10.           Councillor Jemal concluded by saying that she was pleased that the Council was working together positively and constructively to address the issues. 

AGREED

1.       To note the recommendation that Council asks all its members to increase their awareness of the matter of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and attend safeguarding training sessions (including CSE) that are being put into place specifically for        members and that all elected members should undertake Child Protection training within the next 12 months.

2.       To support the CSE task group’s acknowledgement of the need to improve offender profiling on a local and Pan London basis establishing consistency of approach across police services. To recommend that Borough Police and MPS continue to work with Enfield partners to complete the persons of concern local profile that has recently been developed.

3.       To recommend that analysis of the local picture in Enfield with regard to CSE, gangs and peer-on-peer abuse is undertaken.

4.       To recommend that a qualitative piece of research is carried out during 2016/17 deepening our understanding and detailing the characteristics of those children that run away.

5.       To recommend a specific Enfield CSE public awareness campaign to be promoted from September 2016.

6.       To recommend an integrated preventative approach across departments to focus upon hotspots and places of concern where CSE can occur.

7.       To recommend that the CSE task group continues its functions, reporting back to full Council in 2017.