Agenda item

To receive the annual report from the Child Sexual Exploitation and Associated Risk to Young People Task Group.  (Report No: 102)

Council is asked to note the report and approve the suggested changes to the task group terms of reference. 

Councillor Jemal moved and Councillor Elaine Hayward seconded the Annual Report of the Child Sexual Exploitation and Associated Risk to Young People Task Group.  (Report No: 102)

NOTED

1.               That 112 new cases had been reported over the past year and that more enforcement was being carried out.  The most common type of abuse reported in Enfield was peer on peer abuse.  This reflected a growing trend across London.  A positive was that the number of cases was not increasing and that better reporting was taking place.

2.               The task group was putting forward a recommendation that the terms of reference should be amended to widen their remit to include vulnerable adults and young people generally.  The task group felt that other abuse issues such gang violence and drug and alcohol were heavily interrelated with sexual exploitation and that it made sense to widen the focus of the group and mirror this at the committee level.

3.               Councillor Jemal, as Chair, said that she was proud of what had been set up and the great work that the task group councillors were doing.  She thanked them and the officers (Anne Stoker, Assistant Director Children’s Social Care, and Grant Landon, Service Manager Practice and Partnerships, an outstanding Council Officer) for the support that they had provided and the work that they did for the Council in this area.  Their work and external funding were critical to the success of the service.   

4.               The support of the opposition including Councillors Elaine Hayward, Glynis Vince and Mike Rye who agreed with all that had been said and added their thanks to the officers and Councillor Jemal.

5.               The emphasis on the recommendation that all members attend the safeguarding training, put on by the Council, as not everyone had to date. 

6.               The crossover with issues such as modern slavery, young people missing school and the inclusion of forced marriages and female genital mutilation within the revised remit of the group. 

7.               The exemplary nature of the cross party working involved in the group and recognition that the issues were being taken seriously across the Council. 

8.               Acknowledgement that the group had been set up because of the horrific events in Rotherham and the determination that such things should not happen in Enfield. 

AGREED

1.               To ask all members to increase their awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and related issues and attend safeguarding training sessions that were available especially for members.

2.               That the CSE task group acknowledges the progress made in understanding offenders / persons of concern but also recognises the need to continue to improve profiling on a local and pan-London basis establishing consistency of approach across police services.  The Council agrees to recommend that the borough police and the Metropolitan Police Service continue to work with Enfield partners to complete the persons of concern local profile that has recently been developed.

3.               To approve a change to the terms of reference of the CSE task group to include a focus on a range of other inter-related vulnerabilities.  This change will be acknowledged and supported thereby improving oversight and scrutiny of these important areas.

4.               To recommend continued development of an integrated preventative approach across departments to focus upon hotspots and places of concern where CSE and related issues can occur.