Wiltshire Child Exploitation and Missing children Strategy

1. Wiltshire Child Exploitation and Missing children Strategy 2019 – 2021

2. Wiltshire’s Strategy This strategy has been written to: Ensure our partnership is working together to foster a greater understanding of exploitation and to develop a collective response that improves the lives of children and young people who are at risk. We understand the devastating impact that child sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, human trafficking and radicalisation can have on communities. Together our workforce has used national and local evidence to develop a response that will allow us to tackle the increasing risks posed by criminal exploitation and County Lines. We also know we must and will keep learning, keep innovating and keep responding to new threats as they emerge – this strategy will be reviewed each year to ensure we can. The implementation of this strategy will be led by our Child Exploitation and Missing Children group. Governance will be provided by our Community Safety Partnership who will be responsible for monitoring the impact of our work. We will also report regularly to the Safeguarding Vulnerable People’s Partnership to ensure that the work we do to protect children and young people informs and enhances work we are doing to protect vulnerable people across the lifecourse. Tracy Daszkiewicz Detective Superintendent Deb Smith Chair of Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership Chair of the Child Exploitation and Missing Children Group Our model provides a structure on which to base operational activities: Prepare Prevent Pursue Protect

3. What is child exploitation? The act of using a child for some form of personal or financial advantage. The nature of this exploitation often means the child is subject to cruel or harmful behaviour which has detrimental implications. Child Exploitation is a form of child abuse. A child who is being exploited might be experiencing emotional, sexual or physical abuse. Incidents of criminal exploitation, sexual exploitation and of children who go missing are rarely solitary and are often intrinsically linked. Young people who go missing from home or care are at serious risk of being criminally or sexually exploited. Child exploitation is extremely complex and often hidden. The children involved may not see themselves as being ‘exploited’, nor recognise themselves as victims. They may also be reluctant to tell anyone they are being abused. To help those children we all need to recognise the signs of exploitation and be able to effectively respond to it on young people’s behalves. Adolescents are most at risk of criminal exploitation, but we know that children as young as 10 are also being exploited. Contextual Safeguarding recognises the impact that the places and spaces in which young people spend their time – in communities or online – have on shaping their behaviour and either protecting them or leaving them at risk. The different relationships that young people form can keep them safe or expose them to violence and abuse. Our approach in Wiltshire is to develop interventions which change the social environments where exploitation and abuse occur for young people to make them safer and reduce risk. Child Exploitation is a broad term – it describes different kinds of abuse and criminal behaviour. Recently, the risk to young people from County Lines – drug gangs targeting vulnerable children – has increased and we have seen evidence of the strong links between child exploitation, missing children, drug use, gangs and youth violence. Missing ‘Anyone whose whereabouts cannot be established will be considered as missing until located, and their well-being or otherwise confirmed’. (Wiltshire Police) Missing episodes can be both indicate a child is being exploited and increase the likelihood they will be. There are many reasons a child might go missing - sometimes it is problems at home, mental health issues or living in care. But whatever the reason the risk to those children is significant - round 7 in 10 young people who have been sexually exploited have also been reported missing. (Missingpeople.org)

4. Child CRIMINAL Exploitation County Lines & gangs “A child or young person being forced, coerced, compelled or exploited to commit a criminal offence by a third party who stands to gain.” (Wiltshire Police) The gangs recruit young people throughintimidation, violence, debt bondage, grooming or the promise of easy money, drugs, expensive clothing or other gifts. The young people involved may not recognise themselves as victims of any abuse, and can be used to recruit other young people. Young people who are criminally exploited are at a high risk of experiencing violence and intimidation, and threats to family members may also be made facilitating further involvement with the gangs and feeling trapped. Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) is a rapidly growing problem in the country and is not legally defined. The nature of criminal exploitation exhibits very similar patterns of grooming to sexual exploitation. County Lines A form of Child Criminal Exploitation is County Lines. This is the term for when gangs, or Dangerous Drug Networks (DDNs), from big cities, such as London, supply drugs into smaller towns and rural areas. They use dedicated mobile phone numbers which are often referred to as ‘deal lines’. The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimate there are over 2000 deal lines in the UK. Children and young people are typically recruited and exploited to act as ‘runners’ to courier drugs or cash, either within the young person’s local area or to locations across the country. The use of children or vulnerable adults to sell drugs in areas outside of that in which the dealer network resides, reduces the risk of detection from the police and distances them from the supply. White British children are often targeted because gangs perceive them as more likely to evade police detection. To establish a base, gangs can take over the homes of local vulnerable adults by force, coercion and or deception in a term referred to as ‘cuckooing’.

5. Child SEXUAL Exploitation Children and young people are persuaded, coerced, or forced to engage in sexual activity in exchange for, amongst other things, money, drugs/alcohol, gifts, food, accommodation, affection or status. Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a form of sexual abuse of a child. Consent is irrelevant, even where a child may believe they are voluntarily engaging in sexual activity with the person who is exploiting them. Sexual exploitation can happen both online and offline. Models of CSE Abusers ‘groom’ a child for sexual exploitation by breaking down defences to gain trust or forming an emotional relationship with them. There are different models of grooming: Peer on peer – Young people befriend other young people and make them believe they are in a loving ‘relationship’ or friendship and then coerce them to have sex with friends or associates. Organised/Networked CSE (Trafficking) – Young people are trafficked through networks, locally and across the country, and coerced or forced into having sex, often with multiple men. This may take place at “parties”. Inappropriate relationships – The abuser has inappropriate power or control over a young person (physical, emotional or financial). Boyfriend – The abuser grooms a young person into a ‘relationship’ and then coerces or forces them to have sex with friends or associates. Gang – Gangs can use sex to exert power and control over members, for initiation, in exchange for status or protection, to entrap rival gang members or use sexual assault as a weapon in conflict. Online CSE Technology provides perpetrators with easier access to young people. Young people are often coerced into engaging in sexually explicit acts or conversations, such as producing sexually explicit images of themselves, “sexting”, or performing sexual activities over video. They can be groomed into believing an online relationship to be real, and then manipulated or coerced into meeting the abuser in person. The abuser may also threaten to send explicit images or copies of conversations to the young person’s friends and family thereby blackmailing them into taking part in further sexual activity. Perpetrators can be involved within a wider network of abusers. Often the exploitation occurs without the child or young person’s realisation; they do not recognise the coercive nature of the relationship and do not see themselves as a victim.

6. Human trafficking, modern slavery and radicalisation • Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery • Children are recruited, moved or transported, and then exploited, being forced to work or sold as commodities. • Children are trafficked for: • Child Sexual Exploitation • Benefit fraud • Forced marriage • Domestic servitude such as cleaning, childcare, cooking • Forced labour in factories or agriculture • Criminal activity such as pickpocketing, begging, transporting drugs, working on cannabis farms, selling pirated DVDs and bag theft. • Many children are trafficked into the UK from abroad, but children can also be trafficked from one part of the UK to another. The Modern Slavery Act (2015) defines a child as anyone under the age of 18. As a child is not able to give informed consent, any child who is recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received for the purposes of exploitation is considered to be a trafficking victim, whether or not they have been forced or deceived. • Radicalisation • The process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. • Young people can be groomed: • Online • By family members who hold extreme beliefs • By being exposed to extremist imagery, rhetoric and writings • The young person often does not see themselves as a victim of grooming or exploitation. • The harm children and young people can experience ranges from a child adopting or complying with extreme views, which limits their social interaction and engagement with their education, to young children being taken to war zones and older children being groomed for involvement in violence.

7. Criminal Exploitation in Wiltshire Child sexual Exploitation and missing children • CSE • In 2017/18, the Emerald Team: • Accepted 122 referrals for children at heightened risk of or victims of CSE. • Worked with 74 children who were successfully removed from abuse. • Between October and December 2018 21 children were assessed as being a victim of, or at risk of, sexual exploitation. • Missing • 251 missing episodes were reported within Wiltshire between July and September 2018. • This related to 141 young people, with 44 having more than one missing episode. • Of the missing episodes 41% related to Looked After Children (LAC) • Return interviews were offered for 96% (241) of these episodes. Of these, 49% (117) were completed. Wiltshire is a safe place to live and most of our children and young people thrive. However as we have seen increasing national concerns about the exploitation of children and young people, there is emerging evidence of the impact that exploitation, particularly related to County Lines, is having here. There are young people within the county whom we know have been exploited and we have clear evidence that young people have been involved in the transportation and/or selling of drugs. Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Missing Children The Emerald Team is a multi-agency team working with children affected by Child Sexual Exploitation and coordinates responses for children who go missing from or home or care. The Emerald Team work directly with both children and their families to reduce the risk of CSE and provide support to other practitioners who may be working with children at risk. They also track Wiltshire children who are reported missing with a view to reducing missing episodes and ensure the Return Home Interviews (RHI) are completed and that appropriate actions are put in place for those children who regularly go missing.

8. Criminal Exploitation in Wiltshire: Criminal exploitation and County Lines Criminal Exploitation and County Lines Nationally, and within Wiltshire, the threat of Child Criminal Exploitation is largely driven by the supply of heroin and crack cocaine. Currently around 80 – 85% of the heroin and crack cocaine market across Swindon and Wiltshire is supplied through County Lines. Predominately these County Lines originate from the London area, however lines in Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool have all been identified in supplying Wiltshire. By monitoring trends throughout 2017/18, we have seen an increase in the criminal exploitation of local children as well as an increase in the use of children from outside of the local area to run drugs locally. The county’s Dedicated Crime Team (DCT) typically hold around six investigations into different lines at any one time. Historically children exploited by local or County Lines dealers were frequently arrested and treated as offenders. Significant work has taken place across Wiltshire to promote awareness, and in recognising and responding to the fact that these children are often being criminally exploited. This strategy will allow us to do more to protect our children and young people. • County Lines • Between Nov 2017 and Nov 2018 in Wiltshire: • 28 children were identified as having links to County Lines, or being involved, or at risk of becoming involved, in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin. • Four young people confirmed as being linked to County Lines. • Those most at risk in Wiltshire are: • Males aged 15 – 17, however those as young as 12 have been identified. • Young people excluded from school, not in education, employment or training (NEET) or with very poor attendance. • Young people abusing substances. • Young people having reported missing episodes.

9. Criminal Exploitation in Wiltshire: Human trafficking and radicalisation • Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery • During 2018: • 17 children were found to be victims of modern slavery / trafficking within Wiltshire and Swindon, and were referred to the national referral mechanism (NRM). • Six of these were within Wiltshire: • Three were from Malmesbury and were exploited for doorstop peddling. • Three were trafficked in relation to criminal exploitation and Class A drug supply/County Lines from Tidworth (2) and Trowbridge (1). Human Trafficking Wiltshire Police have a Modern Slavery Team, formerly the Human Exploitation and Emerging Threats (HEET) Team, which was formed in 2013 in order to identify persons and locations of interest in Wiltshire in relation to Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. The team’s role is to gather and develop intelligence so that Potential Victims of Human Trafficking (PVoTs) can be identified and offered safeguarding assistance by referral into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and so that those responsible can be subject to an investigation. Radicalisation Wiltshire Council runs a multi-agency Prevent Board which co-ordinates raising awareness and building confidence in the Prevent programme alongside an operational Channel Panel that supports individual cases. Channel is a pre-criminal, voluntary process. Radicalisation • Radicalisation • During 2018 in Wiltshire: • 33 Prevent referrals were made: • 5 of these were referred to the Chanel Programme for additional support. • Reasons include isolation and a need for a sense of belonging, a period of poor mental health, far right anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic ideologies.

10. WHAT WE ARE we DOING IN WILTSHIRE Contextual Safeguarding Approach Wiltshire made a successful bid for funding to develop their Contextual Safeguarding model. Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to understanding and responding to young peoples experiences of significant harm beyond their families. The University of Bedfordshire will work with Wiltshire Council to create a local contextual safeguarding system within the Children and Families Service. This will enable practitioners to appropriately assess and intervene when the risk of harm comes from beyond an adolescent’s family. Vulnerable Adolescents Contextual Safeguarding (VACS) Panel VACS will replace Wiltshire’s Risk Management Panel (WRMP) and the Multi-Agency Child Sexual Exploitation meeting (MACSE) but adopt a more strategic and tactical multi-agencyfocus, specifically around child exploitation. This will build county-wide intelligence, identify emerging concerns and assist in informing contextual safeguarding interventions for individual and groups of young people aged 10-17. Criminal Exploitation Analyst Wiltshire currently employ a dedicated Criminal Exploitation analyst to assist with the identification of children and young people at risk of criminal exploitation, places of risk, and provide mapping of associates and networks. The analyst is employed in a partnership role and has multi-agency system access, providing the ability to search and collate information from Police, Social Care and Youth Offending Team systems. The analyst has developed and manages a Child Exploitation screening tool. This has been created to help identify the picture of exploitation within Wiltshire and highlight those at greatest risk, to be discussed at the VACS Panel. This incorporates a Criminal Exploitation Tracker created by the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), which has already been successful in identifying risks nationally and will help to inform a national strategic picture.

11. Prepare All local leaders and partners across Wiltshire have a responsibility to safeguard children from harm. We will ensure they have a shared responsibility to understand the problem, have an agreed and coordinated approach to tackle it and an uncompromising tenacity and ambition to ensure that a zero-tolerance culture is developed, that allows no child or young person to be exploited within our communities. Our aim is that each organisation highlights the issue of child exploitation and informs its employees and other partners on how to identify a child at risk, and the pathways to ensure information is effectively shared. We will exercise and model positive and proactive curiosity about what life is like for children and young people in Wiltshire, provide challenge to systems and practices that exclude and blame vulnerable children and young people and appropriately challenge harmful and exploitative situations. • Improve understanding of child exploitation and missing episodes amongst children and young people. Young people across Wiltshire will have input and guidance so they can understand the risks associated with exploitation and implement practical techniques to support them to stay safe. • Engage with local communities to raise knowledge of child exploitation and missing children and support them in keeping our communities safe. • Ensure a response to children at risk of child exploitation and missing episodes is embedded in our Early Help hub and throughout all our safeguarding practices. • Use a Contextual Safeguarding approach, ensuring everyone feels confident in tackling child exploitation. • We will: • Raise awareness of child exploitation and missing children amongst the multi-agency workforce to enhance early identification and equip everyone to practice in an effective trauma-informed way.

12. Prevent The safety of children and young people will be prioritised across the partnerships including partner agencies, and both political and community leaders. We will aim for this to be reflected and owned across all strategic ambitions. Working with individuals living and working in Wiltshire (from businesses, professional and non-professional backgrounds, grassroots organisations, the voluntary sector, community and faith groups), we will ensure they are effectively engaged and know what to do if they are worried about a child or young person. Schools and colleges will recognise grooming behaviours, understand the nature of consent and be able to evidence preventive measures. We will: • Ensure risks to children and young people are considered in the systems and context in which they live, learn and grow and recognise the valuable contributions their families, schools, neighbourhoods and communities make towards achieving successful outcomes. • Work with all agencies to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities and pathways for information sharing under Working Together 2018. Our intention is that multi-agency information and intelligence is gathered and shared to early identify children and young people at the greatest risk of exploitation. • Focus on all agencies mobilising early help multi-agency intervention, which will be targeted towards children at risk of experiencing adversity, exposure to familial violence, poverty, parental mental health, substance misuse or from being excluded from school. • Proactively gather information to identify risks and vulnerabilities in groups, communities and individuals whilst also recognising that every child is at risk of exploitation, and that the targeting and recruitment techniques of young people into Dangerous Drug Networks is always changing and adapting. • Develop trusting relationships between partners, and with families and children, to hold and support risk. We will provide training and build awareness of how children and young people can keep themselves safe online, in their homes, in schools and in their communities. Our intention is that families feel supported, informed about risks, and know how to access support. • Gather and use data from existing cases to identify themes and patterns in child exploitation, and use this to learn and inform our practice. • Understand the push and pull factors as to why children go missing and are pulled into exploitation. • Seek feedback from children and young people about what would have helped/has helped and their experiences of services to inform our future response

13. Protect It is our shared ambition to provide a rapid and effective multi-agency response to children, families and our communities to protect children and young people who are being coerced or exploited, from harmful and illegal behaviour. We aim to ensure that our children and young people are kept safe with partnerships that protect them from harm. All agencies and professionals will co-operate and collaborate to build a clear and accurate picture of a child or young person’s circumstances and who can be involved to provide protection. We will: • Develop the ‘Vulnerable Adolescents Contextual Safeguarding Panel’ to ensure multi-agency information and intelligence is gathered and shared to identify children and young people who are vulnerable to exploitation. We will map hotspots, trends and risks in missing episodes, identify victim and perpetrator information and target criminal activity involving children, including County Lines. • Focus on ensuring that the risks and needs are being identified at the earliest opportunities and measures are being put in place to protect vulnerable families and children, by all partners and across all agencies. • Adopt a system-wide cohesive Contextual Safeguarding approach to addressing risks and safeguarding our young people. • Develop a non-pathologising culture in which exploited children and young people are always recognised and supported as victims. • Ensure a common understanding of exploitation and its impact on victims and their families. • Devise and embed a pathway that promotes the engagement of children and their parents / carers. • Provide support to children who are being exploited when they enter/ transition into adulthood. • Support the workforce to reflect on how they work together and their collective impact on managing risk of harm.

14. PURSUE • All incidents of exploitation will be robustly pursued, with a common purpose of all agencies and partners working together to disrupt and end exploitation. This will include robust enforcement activity. • We will: • Utilise all legal options to maximise the disruption of exploitation and ensure the child or young person is safe from the perpetrator • Flexibly apply the full range of disruption tactics available through the criminal and civil routes to protect children and young people including: • - Child Abduction Notices • - Sexual Risk Orders • - Sexual Harm Prevention Order • - National Referral Mechanism • Ensure information is shared to assist with prosecutions and in relation to highlighted locations, perpetrators or suspected perpetrators within communities, share with school networks and other relevant organisations. • Take informed action to proactively disrupt the exploitation of children. • Identify and safeguard children who are trafficked.

15. Recommendations Based on the 4 Ps, the following recommendations are made: • The creation of a multi-agency specialist adolescents’ service that clearly focuses on CSE, CCE, missing children and significantly vulnerable adolescents at risk, including: - A specific police-identified resource dedicated to investigating and disrupting child exploitation, particularly CCE and County Lines. - The continued use of a Criminal Exploitation Analyst to co-ordinate, collate and analyse information from multiple agencies to identify children and young people at risk of exploitation, and highlight vulnerable areas and hotspots. - To roll out a pilot across the county of a CCE Police Officer, mirroring Swindon’s pilot. • The development of a clear multi-agency plan of how to respond to specific threats of criminal exploitation and County Lines. This will include clear practical guidance for individual cases comprising of the relevant roles of individual agencies (who does what, when and how). • To ensure that duplication is reduced, effective sharing of information at the earliest opportunity. • Clear and effective sharing of information with health partners.

16. Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership Acknowledgements: Andrea Brazier, Laura Harris, Helen Donadel Tel: 01225 718093 Published 2019