Child sexual exploitation focus for scrutiny meetings
Two public meetings are taking place on Friday and Monday to look at how organisations in Telford and Wrekin are tackling child sexual exploitation.
The meetings are being held by the council’s Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee.
They take place on Friday 13 March between 9.30am-4pm and Monday 16 March between 6-8pm. Both are at Addenbrooke House.
The meetings follow the publication of the terms of reference for the review earlier in the year.
A consultation took place to ensure everyone had the opportunity to express their views on whether the review was aiming to look at the right issues and talk to the appropriate people.
The meetings taking place in the next week are the first stage of the review when the committee will talk to representatives of 14 different statutory organisations.
This will include how they are working together to prevent children being sexually exploited, protect and support victims and their families and to prosecute perpetrators.
The committee has also asked for information on the scale of child sexual exploitation in the borough, based on information held by the Council.
Councillor Kevin Guy, chairman of the Children’s and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee, said: “There has been a lot of coverage in the press over recent months about child sexual exploitation, particularly after the reports in Rotherham and Oxfordshire.
“In Telford and Wrekin, we know there have been successful prosecutions through Operation Chalice, but we also know Child Sexual Exploitation is still a serious concern in the borough.
“We want to find out what the scale of child sexual exploitation is and how organisations are working together to address this.
“I am very pleased that so many organisations have agreed to take part in our review, but we are not going to stop here.
“We will be carrying out further work through a review group that will meet with other people and organisations to check what we have heard this week and what we have found out from other national reports and reviews.”
The Committee will also be promoting National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness day on the 18 March.
Anyone who is concerned about the welfare of a child should contact Family Connect on 01952 385385 to speak to a Family Connect Advisor. Family Connect Advisors are available between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
If you need to report concerns about the welfare of a child outside of office hours, contact the Emergency Duty Team on 01952 676500.
If you believe a criminal offence has been committed you can contact West Mercia Police on 0300 333 3000 or 101.
