CYP Now – Police struggle to tackle cases of child sexual exploitation

Analysis by CYP Now has found that a lack of joint working with local authority child protection services and delays in the system are key drivers behind the high number of child sexual exploitation (CSE) investigations by police forces, which inspectors have deemed ‘inadequate’.

An analysis of 266 cases investigated by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) involving both online and offline CSE across 17 police forces in England from 2019 to 2023 found that 136 cases were inadequately handled, 81 required improvement and only 49 were rated good.

Online CSE is increasing with the rise of social media use, with the NSPCC stating that these crimes have increased by more than 80% in the four years to 2022.

Key Findings

Of the 17 police forces involved in the research, Thames Valley had the highest percentage of cases rated as inadequate – 81% of cases assessed by the inspectorate – followed by Derbyshire and Hertfordshire where 75% of cases were given the lowest rating of “inadequate”.

An HMCIFRS inspection of CSE cases investigated by London’s Metropolitan Police in February – the most recent inspection report available – found that there was “insufficient focus on child exploitation at senior level”. The handling of 43 of the 244 exploitation cases looked at by inspectors was rated as “good”.

Common themes in cases that were considered ‘inadequately’ addressed included a lack of collaboration between multiple child welfare agencies, delays in investigative processes and evidence gathering, and a lack of children’s voices in the files.

Former Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said that in forces where the distribution of ‘good’ and ‘inadequate’ cases is almost equal, such as in Wiltshire and Cambridgeshire, there is a ‘concern’ because this points to inconsistent practice.

“It either suggests that there are different people behind these reports, some of whom are not up to scratch, or it suggests that they are taking a different approach to different things. There needs to be a clear template of thresholds and standards that apply to all investigations,” he explains.

Steps forward

Following the inspections by HMICFRS, police forces across the country told CYP Now how they have changed their practices to improve standards.

Warwickshire Police found that in 2022, zero cases were rated as ‘good’, six as ‘requires improvement’ and eight as ‘inadequate’. Reasons for this were: delayed referrals, lack of child input into cases and a lack of effective supervision.

Jill Fowler, Warwickshire’s head of public protection, said the force had made improvements, including the creation of a public protection unit. It had also set up child abuse teams and human trafficking and exploitation teams, working with charity Barnardo’s to raise awareness of children at risk of exploitation.

“The national referral mechanism is also used to facilitate inter-agency notification and consultation. When risks to children are identified, daily information sharing meetings and contextual strategy discussions take place to commit to joint or single agency safety planning to keep children safe,” Fowler said.

Elsewhere, Avon and Somerset Police was found to have rated two cases as ‘good’, six as ‘requires improvement’ and six as ‘inadequate’ in 2023, due to a lack of multi-agency collaboration, particularly in social care services, and poor oversight.

Detective Superintendent Mike Buck, the police’s Crimes Against Children Unit Leader, explains that since the HMCIFRS review, Avon and Somerset have undertaken a strategic threat assessment, which has led to the implementation of a vulnerability change programme led by a dedicated detective superintendent. The force will shortly be publishing an updated vulnerability report examining the effectiveness of the implementation.

Hertfordshire Police was found to be failing to identify wider safeguarding risks, with referrals delayed and collaborative planning for proactivity not always supported. This resulted in two cases being rated as ‘good’ in 2020, two as ‘requires improvement’ and 12 as ‘inadequate’.

Doug Black, Detective Chief Inspector of Serious Crime and Safeguarding in Hertfordshire, says a dedicated team designed to tackle CSE cases, called the Halo Team, has been “renewed and expanded”. The team’s role involves preventative work with identified children at risk of harm, designed to “enhance the child voice”.

“The Halo team is housed within our Criminal Exploitation Center and our Missing Persons team, and the work is consolidated daily in a management meeting,” said Black, highlighting the new multi-agency efforts.

“Joint working protocols with the county council’s children’s services, schools and other police teams dealing with children in the criminal justice system have been improved,” he adds.

Black explains that police are working to support hospitality staff in recognising signs of CSE in local hotels.

“We are working with national teams to develop national standards for key organisations such as hotel groups, so that they understand common standards. We will also work with the local university to raise awareness of CSE risks among future leaders in the hotel industry, and develop a holistic and strategic approach to managing CSE,” he adds.

Service reforms

Kent Police showed some evidence of co-operation, but initial investigations appeared “inconsistent” and there was “a lack of effective oversight of cases”, inspectors said.

With five cases rated as ‘good’, six as ‘requires improvement’ and two as ‘inadequate’ in 2019, the force set out how successful its CSE strategy reforms have been in its Making Kent Safer report, published in June.

The report highlights initiatives such as an awareness week on child and adult sexual abuse, awareness sessions on child exploitation and the deployment of more than 20 additional officers to tackle sex offenders and respond to vulnerable children.

This work is being done alongside the wider police campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, which includes enhanced training for officers and staff on eliminating victim-blaming language, child protection and identifying and managing risks.

Online research

In addition to implementing joint work strategies, the armed forces have prioritized tackling online CSE.

Warwickshire has recruited additional detectives to its online CSE team, which works with partner organisations and provides online safety education to under-18s.

Avon and Somerset’s Internet Abuse Team saw a 21% increase in workload in 2022 and has placed a “significant focus” on responding to online CSE with multi-agency collaboration. They say children’s social care is now always contacted when a new referral is received.

Hertfordshire is another police force focusing on online CSE.

“Nationally, all police forces are working with regional intelligence agencies to map and monitor online grooming platforms and are working closely with (the national CSE taskforce) to map the scale and nature of complex and organised child abuse, including group-based CSE crime recording,” Black said.

National support

As police forces adapt to the changing nature of CSE, with an increase in children being targeted for CSE on social media, partly due to gangs changing their exploitation tactics during the pandemic (see overleaf), many forces are taking steps to improve collaboration and increase digital resources. However, experts warn that without a national strategy, policing children at risk of CSE will remain patchy.

Case Study: Derbyshire focuses on early risk identification

With 75% of child sexual exploitation (CSE) cases assessed by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) in 2021 being deemed ‘inadequate’, Derbyshire Constabulary tells CYP Now about the steps it is taking to address inspectors’ claims that ‘referrals are delayed and do not support collaborative proactivity planning’, alongside criticism of a lack of effective oversight and understanding of wider risks.

Detective Constable Nikki Gray, of the police’s child abuse team, says “wide-scale changes” have been made, with the creation of a “dedicated CSE unit” with detectives who have undergone national investigation training and liaise with other police departments.

“In the same office we have a coordination center for both sexual and criminal exploitation, which works with a special sergeant who oversees the security of investigations.

“It has created a seamless flow of information and we are working with partners to have a collaborative response through a process of flagging data into the system. So any officer who comes across a child who has been flagged, or is at risk or has any vulnerability, can see that alongside any appropriate actions that have been put in place by the coordination team and partners.”

Location-specific risk

Police are addressing concerns about proactivity by focusing on location-based risks, both online and face-to-face.

“We want to stop this before it happens. When we get referrals from partners, we work with wider agencies to provide a strategic and tactical response, something that didn’t exist in 2021. This could be council health and safety, trading standards or local safer neighbourhood teams. We also have a strategic board of partners that meets regularly.”

In the future, the police intend to focus on online CSE by working with the national programme to combat CSE – Operation Hydrant – in accordance with the guidelines of that programme, and by working with partners in the field of serious and organised crime and national partners to mitigate online threats.