Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Chief Executive Officer of Sheffield Futures, attaching the Sheffield Sexual Exploitation Service Annual Report 2015/16.

6.2

In attendance for this item were Janine Dalley (Senior Programme Manager for Targeted Service, Sheffield Futures) and Jane Fidler (Sheffield Sexual Exploitation Service Manager, Sheffield Futures).

6.3

Janine Dalley referred to the introductory report, which contained information on the service user profile for 2015/16, key achievements in 2015/16, developments in 2016/17 and priorities for the Service for 2017/18. 

6.4

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                There was no threshold as such in terms of accessing the Service.  Any level of need and risk would be assessed and receive an intervention. The Service had worked in schools, with staff and parents, to help them recognise the signs of grooming, and to help parents protect their own children.  The Service placed an emphasis on prevention and intervention work.

·                Whilst lessons had been learnt, and policies and procedures changed or amended, where required, following recent high profile child sexual exploitation cases, there were concerns regarding changes in the manner children and young people were being targeted, as well as changes to the cohort, mainly relating to online exploitation.  The Service team would be trained in Asset Plus, the assessment tool used by Community Youth Teams and the Youth Justice Service, which ensured that young people’s needs and vulnerabilities were assessed holistically, thereby identifying strengths and risks.

·                The City Council had commissioned a review from the Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) in 2014, reflecting the findings of the Jay Report, which had included scrutiny of Sheffield’s systems with regard to sexual exploitation, with such a review identifying key strengths with regard to governance arrangements and service configuration.  In addition to this, the CSE Operational Board and the CSE Strategic Board continued to monitor progress with regard to the City’s sexual exploitation procedures, through a CSE Delivery Plan.

·                The national evidence base suggested that there was under-reporting of CSE by a specific ethnic group. There was no local evidence base to support this.

·                There was a dedicated officer in the Local Authority who worked closely with schools across the City to deliver training on e-safety.  By working with Community Youth Teams, more targeted e-safety training was able to be delivered, covering all aspects of the dangers of on-line exploitation for vulnerable groups.  Discussions centred around school exclusions, but there were no statistics on hand to further explore any correlations. There was a reliance on schools to inform Community Youth Teams of cases where pupils had been excluded, as they worked with young people with two or more fixed-term exclusions to prevent them becoming permanently excluded.  There was centre-based youth provision and open access youth provision, which was available for all children and young people.  In addition to this, and with regard to those more vulnerable children and young people, there was targeted detached youth provision in particular hotspot areas.  Due to the numbers involved, and reducing budgets, it was very difficult for the Community Youth Teams and partner agencies to meet demand all the time, but there were a number of examples of effective intervention work, which had resulted in a reduction in levels of anti-social behaviour.

·                In line with best practice, training had been targeted at taxi drivers, with the aim of empowering them to report concerns of a safeguarding nature.  

·                The role of the Specialist Nurse attached to the Service was to ensure that all young people identified as being vulnerable were given a health assessment, and could be referred quickly to other services, such as sexual health or the Child Assessment Unit.  The Nurses were responsible for identifying those young people whose health needs had not been identified.   There was a link between vulnerable young people and unmet health needs, for example, more risk of criminal, financial and sexual exploitation.

·                Of the 136 referrals to the Service in 2015/16, 63.2% of the 19 children in care, who were in foster care, were already in foster care at the point of referral.

·                The Service was very satisfied with the support it received from South Yorkshire Police.  There was a dedicated team of police officers, comprising a Detective Sergeant and seven Detectives working solely in connection with child sexual exploitation,  Sheffield Futures had assisted in investigations and provided a direct link with the police.  The police had representatives on both the Child Sexual Exploitation Strategic and Operational Boards.

6.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the report now submitted, together with the Sheffield Sexual Exploitation Service Annual Report 2015/16, and the responses to the questions raised; and

(b)       expresses its thanks and appreciation in terms of the excellent work undertaken by all staff in the Sheffield Sexual Exploitation Service, and all partner agencies involved in tackling sexual exploitation in Sheffield.