GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO CHILD SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION – BRIEFING PAPER
1. KEY DOCUMENTS
Tackling child sexual exploitation – review of assessment and decision
making tools (3.3.15 letter): Isabelle Trowler, Chief Social Worker for
Children and Families
Our joint commitment to share information effectively for the protection
of children (3.3.15 letter): Dept of Health, Home Office, Dept for
Communities and Local Government, Ministry of Justice
Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation (March 2015): HM Government
2. SUMMARIES
Tackling child sexual exploitation – review of assessment and decision
making tools (3.3.15 letter): Isabelle Trowler, Chief Social Worker for
Children and Families
Acknowledgement of the Government issuing its response to the failures to
protect children from child sexual exploitation (‘CSE’) in Rotherham. The
Government point to a system that has lost its focus on high quality and
confident front line practice.
As part of the Government’s response, the Secretary of State for Education
asked Isabelle Trowler to write to Directors of Children’s Services, Chief
Executives and Lead Members, to request that they immediately review any
assessment and decision making tools in use to see if they are fit for purpose
and being properly implemented. The tool in Rotherham and South Yorkshire
was based on a numeric scoring system that resulted in risks being
underestimated. Decision making tools can be helpful but they should only
ever be used to assist in decision-making.
Implications for Bradford
The CSE risk assessment tool is drawn from the West Yorkshire Consortium
Safeguarding procedures, with some minor amendments on the Bradford
version. At the Board’s ‘Challenge Panel’ in December 2014, a number of
CSE cases were looked at, with focus on the CSE risk assessments. A
number of points were made, not only about the quality of completed risk
assessments, but about practice. The CSE Hub is in the process of reviewing
all CSE Hub managed cases. It is suggested that a position statement is
urgently requested from the CSE Hub Team Manager, to include comment on
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the quality of completed CSE risk assessments, and feedback on the CSE
risk assessment template itself.
Our joint commitment to share information effectively for the protection
of children (3.3.15 letter): Dept of Health, Home Office, Dept for
Communities and Local Government, Ministry of Justice
Confirmation that the Departments have issued the Government’s response to
the chronic failures to protect children from CSE in Rotherham, which were
the subject of recent reports by Alexis Jay and Louise Casey.
Acknowledgement that organised CSE had been happening on a massive
scale, over many years, is a “complete dereliction of duty…” and not unique to
Rotherham. A key factor in tackling the threat is sharing information.
“There can be no justification for failing to share information that will allow
action to be taken to protect children. We know that skilled frontline staff can
be hesitant and uncertain as to when and how they should be sharing
information with other agencies”.
Staff need clarity and simple guidelines about when and how personal
information should be shared. Cross-Government information sharing
guidance will be published by end of March 2015. The updates being made to
Working Together 2015 will be clear about responsibility to share information.
Local areas should consider the following principles for multi-agency working:
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Integrated working (eg co-location)
Joint risk assessments
A victim focused approach
Good leadership and clear governance
Frequent review of operations
Implications for Bradford
The CSE Hub is already a well established co-located service and has a
victim focused approach, but it is suggested that frequent reviews are
undertaken as to its effectiveness, in view of the current climate.
Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation (March 2015): HM Government
The report opens with:
“The Government deplores the sexual exploitation of children, and will not
tolerate failure at any level to prevent harm, support victims and bring
offenders to justice”.
Louise Casey’s report, showed that even since the Jay report, many in
Rotherham council and its local partners had continued to deny the scale of
the problem, and not enough action taken to stop the abuse.
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Actions in the Government’s report include:
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New whistleblowing national portal for child abuse related reports
New national taskforce and a centre of expertise
To eradicate the culture of denial, there will be consultation on an
extension to the new ‘wilful neglect’ offence
Child abuse has been given the status of a national threat in the
Strategic Policing Requirement
An additional £7 million this year and in 2015/16 to organisations which
support those who have experienced sexual abuse
Tackling CSE must be a shared effort with Government leading on the
national response and LA’s, police, children’s and health services having a
statutory duty to work together to identify and stamp it out in their area.
Accountability and leadership
Those who fail in their duties to protect children must be held accountable.
To strengthen accountability the Government will:
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Introduce an expectation that all LSCBs will conduct regular local
assessments on the effectiveness of local responses to CSE and
publish the outcome of those assessments through their annual
reports.
Improve the quality of central Government data collection to include the
prevalence of CSE.
Commission an external analysis of LSCBs annual reports in 2015/16
to bring greater scrutiny and examine how effectively the data is being
used to improve outcomes for children.
Deliver a new system of multi-agency inspections including Ofsted, HM
Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Care Quality Commission.
Continue to refocus the inspection regime on practice, not policy.
It is unacceptable for councils, police forces or other public bodies to use
severance agreements to cover up examples of under-performance or
organisational failure. The Government will:
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Make it clear that LAs should adopt the clear principles on the use of
settlement agreements in the public sector.
Challenge the local government sector to strengthen accountability
arrangements for senior local leaders.
Ensure that exit payments for senior staff, including council staff, can
be clawed back.
Consult on options for imposing sanctions for failure to take action on
abuse or neglect.
Set out an unambiguous statement of accountability in the Working
Together statutory guidance.
Improve standards of integrity in the police, eg looking at the
complaints process, improving protection for whistleblowers.
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Changing the culture of denial
“People who abuse children must be stopped. Their race, age or gender is
irrelevant”.
The Government will improve the early identification and reporting of concerns
by professionals and the public. This will include revising the What to do if
you’re worried a child is being abused guidance, and enable the public
(especially women), to challenge abuse and the cultural attitudes which create
the conditions for abuse.
The Government will create a culture where the health service and medical
professionals are spotting the signs of CSE early. This will include updating
safeguarding children training materials for NHS staff, produce an awareness
raising film, publish a resource pack for school nurses, expand routine enquiry
from 2015/16 made by professionals in targeted services such as mental
health, sexual health and substance misuse services to that questions are
asked about child abuse.
The Government will improve the identification of victims and survivors by the
police and the support to victims during investigations into CSE. This includes
the College of Policing and the National Policing lead setting the requirement
on all forces to train all new and existing police staff to respond to CSE. The
Home Secretary has written to all Chief Constables and Police and Crime
Commissioners in September 2014 to reinforce the need to learn from the Jay
report.
Improving joint working and information sharing
Poor multi-agency working, information sharing and risk assessment have led
to the major failures in Rotherham, Greater Manchester and elsewhere”.
To improve barriers to information sharing, the Government will publish a
letter to various bodies including LSCBs making absolutely clear when
personal information can and should be shared with other agencies for the
purposes of child protection. It will publish information sharing guidance, set
up pilots with LAs to explore alternative ways of providing local assurance
about multi-agency working on child abuse and neglect. There will be
complete roll out of the Child Protection Information Sharing System.
The Government will ensure that professionals feel confident to speak out
when they are concerned their organisation is not protecting children,
including an expectation that all organisations that have safeguarding
responsibilities must have internal whistleblowing policies in place. A new
national single point of contact for child abuse-related whistleblowing reports
will be created.
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Protecting vulnerable children
“We are taking action to improve the support to local areas in protecting
vulnerable children”.
To improve the local response to CSE the Government will set up a new
national taskforce to help LAs when child sexual abuse is a particular
concern. This will link to a new national Centre of expertise. There will be
development of a new model of support that responds to the needs of young
people. Four Innovation Programme projects will test ways to help young
people overcome their situation.
To improve the frontline social care response the Government will improve the
quality of frontline social work practice, eg a new approved child and family
practitioner status, a new accredited practice supervisor leader status and
new accredited social work practice leader status.
To better protect children who go missing or who are placed in care the
Government will support the National Policing lead and National Crime
Agency to implement the recommendations of HM Inspectorate of
Constabulary inspections on child protection and the all-force inspection on
missing and absent children due to take place in the summer. Other
measures include improving safeguards for children in care, funding a
programme of support and training for children’s homes, and making it clear in
statutory guidance that data and analysis of the children who go missing from
home or care must be included in regular reports to council members and to
the LSCB.
Stopping offenders
“The Serious Organised Crime Strategy published in 2013 set out an
approach aimed at reducing the level of serious and organised crime affecting
the UK and its interests, including child sexual exploitation… Child sexual
abuse is a serious threat…”.
Measures including giving CSE the status of a national threat in the Strategic
Policing Requirement. New powers for the police will commence in March
2015 to disrupt and prevent offending including powers to apply a Sexual
Harm Prevention Order or Sexual Risk Order on individuals.
Supporting victims and survivors
“In the last two years, there has been a significant increase in recorded child
sexual offences, leading to significant increases in demand for support for
victims”.
The Government will provide an additional £7 million this year and in 2015/16
to non-statutory organisations which support the victims of sexual abuse.
Subject to the outcome of the current Home Office trial, the Government will
consider be roll out of independent child trafficking advocates to support
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victims. There will also be training of staff providing services used by child
victims.
The Government has invested during the Spending Review on improving
access to NHS psychological therapies and the quality of mental health
services., including transforming CAMHS.
The Government will set out in a forthcoming report on the work of the Child
and Young People’s Mental Health Taskforce, a clear ambition to support and
inform the design and delivery of a local offer of services to all children and
young people, including those children who are sexually exploited or sexually
abused.
Andrew Crabtree
Interim Development Officer
Bradford Safeguarding Children Board
10th March 2015
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