An alliance of agencies will mount a coordinated attack targeting offenders and the underlying causes of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).
A number of partners have come together across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to develop a root and branch approach to tackling CSE and over the past few years have made real progress.
And they have been bolstered by the award of more than £1.2m in funding from Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Clive Loader. The funding was agreed by the Strategic Partnership Board as part of its drive to develop strategic, transformational collaborations across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
The cash will be distributed between 13 projects, all dedicated to eradicating CSE. They include innovative education programmes aimed at raising awareness among young people, developing a network of faith group champions, targeting young people with messaging via social media and the psychological profiling of victims and perpetrators.
The work will be undertaken over the next two years and will be overseen by Sir Clive’s Chief Executive to ensure improved outcomes are being achieved.
Sir Clive said: “CSE is an appalling and insidious crime that has a harrowing effect on its young victims and their families, leaving deep rooted scars that can wreck people’s lives.
“We are extremely fortunate that Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland has many organisations who are committed to doing everything they can to rid us of this scourge.“
It will take a united effort to deal effectively with CSE and what is being advocated here is an innovative approach targeting the causes and effects through education, prevention, enforcement and support.“
We all have a responsibility to ensure our young people are kept safe and to work towards eradicating the sexual exploitation of children. I am delighted to be able to commission this work.”
The 13 projects are all under the governance of the Leicestershire and Rutland Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and the Leicester LSCB which developed a joint bid for the funding, working with partners from the police, health and other agencies involved in safeguarding children and young people.
Chief Superintendent David Sandall, Head of Crime and Intelligence for Leicestershire Police, said: “CSE is a problem across the country but we have already seen the benefits of partnership working to tackle it with a joint operational team of police officers and social workers.“
What we now have is a cohesive strategy, in which a number of organisations and agencies are involved, designed to deal with this issue right across the board. And the important thing is that it puts the child at the centre of everything that is being done.”
The money from the PCC’s Strategic Partnership Development Fund will provide funding for two years. There is also match funding from some of the agencies involved.
Paul Burnett, independent chair of the Leicestershire and Rutland LSCB, said: “Put simply, CSE is totally unacceptable and tackling it remains a top priority for us.
“By working together, councils, the police, health and others have achieved significant progress over the past few years. This includes the launch of a multi-agency CSE team, which is already securing convictions, and a rise in referrals following a successful awareness-raising drive.
“But, as in other parts of the UK, there is more work to do. This significant cash boost will enable us to take our work to another level, creating added opportunity to achieve our aims of preventing CSE, protecting and providing for those at risk, pursuing and prosecuting perpetrators and strengthening our partnership.”
David Jones, Chair of the Leicester Safeguarding Children Board, said: “We all have to work together to challenge the attitudes and behaviour which end up in sexual exploitation of children and young people; Leicester Safeguarding Children Board welcomes the funding for CSE work announced by the police today as evidence of the determination across the city to protect children and young people.”
Posted on Monday 9th May 2016