Agenda item

To receive the report of Angela Bent, Head of Service, Practice Improvement & Partnerships and John Lawrence-Jones, Service Manager, Children’s Specialist Support.

Angela Bent, Head of Service, Practice Improvement & Partnerships introduced the report which provided an overview of how Children and Family Services respond to child exploitation and children who are missing. Child exploitation is a form of child abuse and occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child under the age of 18. Between 1^st April 2022 and 31^st March 2023, a total of 239 children were identified as either experiencing or being at risk of child exploitation in Enfield, 44 were at risk of child sexual exploitation, 175 at risk of child criminal exploitation and 20 were identified as at risk of both.

Data was provided and it was noted that there had been a year-on-year increase in the number of children on the child exploitation profile, in the year 2022/23 there was a slight drop from 248 to 239. The number of children recorded as missing has remained very similar in the last two years, the spike between 20/21 and 21/22 has been attributed to covid restrictions being lifted meaning more children and young people were more likely to be out and therefore likely to not return home when expected. Further in-depth data was provided in relation to child exploitation and missing children, and it was acknowledged that this complex area of practice requires a comprehensive response from across the partnership. Within Children and Family Services, all teams have a responsibility towards young people who are impacted by these issues and since 2021 there has been a bespoke provision specifically targeted at young people who are at risk of exploitation. It was advised that there is a recognised correlation between children going missing and an increased risk to those children of being exploited. Children and Family Services has adapted its delivery offer to provide a target response to this form of extra familial harm through the development of the Contextual Safeguarding Hub and the Adolescent Safeguarding Teams (AST), whilst recognising that all services work with young people at risk.

Questions were invited from Members:

In response to a question regarding the new centralised process for recording missing episodes Officers advised that this has been developed and will be implemented during December 2023. It is anticipated that this new approach will improve standards around recording missing episodes and offering return home interviews in a timely fashion. This will also enable more comprehensive management oversight of this cohort of young people, which in turn will facilitate scrutiny of the efficacy of the process.

Following a further question regarding the return home interviews, Officers explained that these were very individual and were beneficial in gaining an understanding of what is going on for that young person, and how the service can be better placed to support them. It was also recognised that the young person is more likely to share their issues if the interviews are facilitated at the earliest opportunity. Additionally, the Hub have developed an enhanced pathway for the most vulnerable young people who are missing and at risk of extra-familial harm. In this context, the Hub cross reference children who have exploitation markers, using data from the Safeguarding Adolescents from Exploitation (SAFE) and Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) panels, with the children who go missing most regularly to identify those who would benefit from additional support. The missing children co-ordinators are proactive in contacting these children before they go missing to build trust, rapport, and confidence in the service.

In response to a further question, it was confirmed that plans are in place to strengthen how services capture feedback from young people and their families within children’s social care and the Youth Development Service, to ensure that service users perspectives are understood and factored into service development considerations. The Safeguarding Adolescent Strategy Action Plan is being developed and will be over seen by the Safeguarding Partnership.

Further discussions took place regarding other targeted response offers and it was advised that within the Youth Development Service, the Contextual Safeguarding Youth Workers provide wellbeing workshops to schools to raise awareness of different types of extra-familial harm. The service also provides a range of other interventions that include support around extra-familial exploitation risks. These include community outreach work, such as youth workers focusing on ‘hotspot areas’, which are identified as having high rates of youth anti-social behaviour and/or crime. Youth workers walk around these locations speaking to young people they come across, exploring any worries, and signposting them to positive activities. Safeguarding work also takes place in schools which supports students to safely transit from school to home.

In response to further questions from Members, Officers advised that in trying to meet an aim to make youth centre services more mobile, the Council launched its new youth bus in November 2022. This is a mobile provision that enables young people to access information, advice and guidance, free activities, advocacy, and early help support on their doorstep. The service has since drawn impressive figures, contributing to the increase in engagement.  

The panel acknowledged that as well as delivering the statutory services, it was important that the local authority work with the voluntary sector to reach out and engage with the thousands of volunteers across the borough who deliver amazing support and work.

The Chair thanked Officers for attending the meeting and for providing a very thorough report.

The panel AGREED to note the report.