A presentation to be made at the meeting.

Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children and Culture said one of the most challenging aspects of work undertaken by the Safeguarding Partnership was the safeguarding of adolescents from violence, vulnerability and exploitation. He said often adolescents were resistant to help that is offered, with a particular kind of dynamic relating to criminal drug dealing, which means young people are drawn into situations of exploitation via criminal or sexual exploitation and can find it very difficult to extricate themselves, even with professional support.

Mr Thomas said that he was pleased Tower Hamlets had a partnership approach and that the VVE strategy had been launched to address the needs of young people.

Mr Richard Baldwin, Divisional Director for Supporting Families then gave a presentation on the VVE Strategy explaining the principles which underpin the strategy and the key themes.

Ms Rachel Ringham, Head of Service - Exploitation and DI Chris Heathcote from the Metropolitan Police added that partnership working was key to recognising and preventing exploitation. DI Heathcote said his teams worked closely with the Council to share intelligence and data.

In response to questions from members the following was noted:

• There are times when the families require re-housing quickly, due to the threat of violence. Children’s Social Care has good relationships with the Council’s housing department but there are times when processes, due to their complex nature, do not move a quickly enough. Often families are moved to Bed and Breakfast accommodation or to wider family members, before they are re-housed somewhere safe.
• The Council and the Metropolitan Police have good relationships with neighbouring boroughs and share data and intelligence. Where a young person has been moved outside of the borough the receiving local authority and Police Force are briefed and investigate the crime further.
• There is a named Officer in the Housing Department with whom the exploitation team liaise directly with.

• ACTION: The Sub-Committee to receive anonymised data/case studies on the types of cases being dealt with, so to help members gain a sense of the safeguarding issues involved.

• In response to how awareness is raised among young people to seek help, Ms Ringham explained this was a slow process whereby rapport is built and maintained through conversation so to gain the young person’s trust. The young person is in regular contact with the social worker and police and are supported through education and recreational activities with the hope they will confide and talk about the exploitation taking place. Any data or intelligence is shared within the partnership. Awareness is also raised through schools, parent coffee mornings and in the community. It a covert crime and is hard to spot so takes time to solve. 

The Chair thanked the attendees for their contribution to the meeting and said their input had been invaluable, in helping the members understand how effective partnerships can help with the work on violence, vulnerability and exploitation.

The Chair summarised the main points of the discussion as follows:

1. Good partnership working was key to ensure information, data and intelligence was being shared across agencies to address exploitation of young people.
2. Further enhancement was required with getting support for families, who were required to move at short notice, especially with the housing process.