(a)

REACH had received 428 referrals in the first six months of 2014, showing a substantial increase on the previous year;

(b)

REACH are seeing a proportionately higher number of children who were not previously known to Children’s Social Care;

(c)

Plymouth University had gained ethical approval for a longitudinal study on those young people who had not been previously known to Children’s Social Care and who had been reported missing on more than one occasion; this cohort was currently being identified from the data available;

(d)

the REACH team had not yet had the opportunity to discuss the findings of the Jay Report (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, 1997 – 2013, Alexis Jay OBE) with their management.  The team were aware of the findings of the report and are ready to reflect on how they could improve their performance in light of the report;

(e)

REACH were getting things right in the city, and the current relationship they had with partner agencies enabled them to apply various approaches with young children; they were currently operating a discrete youth centred approach that mirrors good practice recommended in the Jay report;

(f)

REACH were on target to meet their Key Performance Indicators, and were performing well on the number of return interviews completed within a 72 hour framework, however there was still room for improvement as there were a number of factors that affected the figures, including staffing capacity pressures and the failure of some young people/families to engage with the team;

(g)

there was likely to be an increase in the uptake of the ‘B’Wise to Child Sexual Exploitation’ education programme as the new academic year started; three schools were currently interested  in the programme.  This was less than REACH would have anticipated, however it was acknowledged that it was difficult to schedule this programme into school timetables;

(h)

Children’s Social Care were proactive on the issue of child sexual exploitation, with the understanding that children in care being more vulnerable to sexual exploitation.  Of the 16 children identified to be vulnerable to CSE by the REACH Service in the first quarter of 2014-15, 14 were already cases known to Childrens’ Social Care and were also identified as vulnerable for reasons other than CSE.  It is therefore not possible to identify all children who may be at risk of CSE in the city solely through the REACH Service, which is primarily focussed upon children who go missing.  It is therefore essential to roll-out the NWG Toolkit for identification of vulnerability to CSE across all agencies, to ensure early identification;

(i)

the four Local Safeguarding Children Boards across the south west peninsula (Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall and Torbay), are working closely together through the South West Peninsula Missing & Child Sexual Exploitation Strategic group, with all four Local Authority areas working to a shared protocol for ensuring early identification of children vulnerable to CSE;

(j)

there was a known link between the internet and child sexual exploitation, and work was being undertaken to ensure that the relevant agencies were aware how to assess a child’s online behaviour.  Plymouth chairs the South West Peninsula Child Online Safety strategic group.  In March 2014, Plymouth City Council had received a national award for their innovative work in this area;

(k)

approximately 11,000 people in Plymouth worked with children in some capacity, and should be aware of the signs and symptoms of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation as part of core awareness training for child protection ;

(l)

Plymouth Safeguarding Children’s Board had started a Child Sexual Exploitation training course in April 2014 which had proved to be very popular, although there were only 12 courses a year at present and it was acknowledged that this needed to expand.  The training does not diminish the requirement for individual agencies to ensure their staff understand the signs and symptoms of CSE, and what to do it they have concerns;

(m)

a Police presence on the streets was vital to identify vulnerable children that Children’s Social Care may not otherwise be aware of, although it was acknowledged that there was pressure on the staffing and resources of the Police Service Development of street presence of Police officers alongside youth workers was a core recommendation from the Jay Report into CSE in Rotherham;

(n)

Children’s Social Care relied heavily on the provision of therapeutic services to children vulnerable to CSE, and those who had experienced CSE provided by the NSPCC and Barnardos, and both agencies offered very strong services for children.  These services were currently funded by the agencies themselves using national service models, and were not commissioned by Plymouth City Council and therefore not externally audited or accountable to needs assessment identified by Children’s Social Care;

(o)

support packages needed to be tailor-made for each individual child and in some cases need to be over a longer period of time (up to two years);

(p)

media reports focused on child sexual exploitation involving girls, although one third of cases involved boys;

(q)

there was an issue in every community with male predatory behaviour and it was difficult for some people to seek help outside of their community.  It was acknowledged that those most vulnerable were on the outside edge of their community, and work was required to ensure better engagement between child protection services and hard-to-reach communities

(r)

Plymouth City Council had better procedures and structures in place than Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, even though they had similar demographics;

(s)

the Jay Report had identified that more work was needed with vulnerable children;

(t)

adults who worked with children needed ongoing training and professional development;

(u)

the Police were in the process of reviewing their definition of ‘absent’ and ‘missing’, this was a countrywide initiative;

(v)

on completion of the return interview within 72 hours, children were referred for further assessment of their needs with a view to linking them to  appropriate support;

(w)

resources were continually stretched, and there was both the ability and want to do more;

(x)

it was important to have a strategy for tackling the issue of Child Sexual Exploitation, in particular young people’s online activity needed to be challenged;

(y)

Plymouth Safeguarding Children’s Board had set up a task group to provide multi agency guidance for the early identification of sexually harmful behaviour in children, and to address the issues raised by Plymouth City Council  challenge to sexualised imagery of children in advertising and the media;

(z)

children needed to be made aware of body and relationship issues as children encountered confusing messages and needed to understand barriers, and the need to extend this within the PHSE agenda in all Plymouth schools was recognised, with use of the NSPCC ‘Pants Campaign’ and ‘B-Wise’ initiative;

(aa)

there had been a 100 per cent rise in pre-pubescent adolescents attending A&E with self harm issues in the past year, with issues of low self-esteem and self-hatred being linked with signs and symptoms of vulnerability to CSE.  Supportive responses to children self-harming should be promoted;

(bb)

a whole family approach could be adopted if it was deemed necessary.  The Jay Report had highlighted that children needed someone they had confidence in, could trust and could talk to in their own right, but on occasion it was more important to involve parents/carers as well;

(cc)

an operation had been conducted which involved a cohort of pupils from a Plymouth secondary school, which had emphasised that child sexual exploitation can be perpetrated by peers as well as adults.  The school displayed a good level of pastoral care;

(dd)

there was the possibility that Councillors could participate in the Child Sexual Exploitation training run by the Plymouth Safeguarding Childrens’ Board;

(ee)

it was important to address and prevent any potential race issues relating to child sexual exploitation, with direct professional links to be established between child protection services and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities across the city;

(ff)

the referral figures quoted in the report related only to referrals to REACH by the Police and not any other agencies;

(gg)

the REACH team meet with various agencies, including Barnardos and the NSPCC, every week to identify links between vulnerable children and related adults.