Agenda and minutes

No Declarations of Interest were made. 

No members of the public or the press were in attendance. 

Nothing was raised under this item. 

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission held on 18^th December, 2013, were considered. 

Resolved: -  That the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as a correct record. 

Documents: -

·         Cover report (attached);

·         Appendix A - Recent CSE reviews and inspections reports – summary of recommendations (attached).

Background documents: -

·         Review of the response to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, conducted by Steve Ashley, Independent Chair of Rotherham Local Children's Safeguarding Board (Published Jan 2014) (attached).

·         Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) South Yorkshire Police's Response to Child Sexual Exploitation – Findings of an inspection commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner (Published Nov 2013) (Executive summary attached). 

·         Link to full document: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/publication/south-yorkshire-police-response-to-child-sexual-exploitation/

·         Barnardo's Rotherham Practice Review Report (Published October 2013) (attached).

·         “If only someone had listened” Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (Published November 2013) (Executive Summary attached).

·         Link to full document: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk%2Fforce_download.php%3Ffp%3D%2Fclient_assets%2Fcp%2Fpublication%2F743%2FIf_only_someone_had_listened_Office_of_the_Childrens_Commissioners_Inquiry_into_Child_Sexual_Exploitation_in_Gangs_and_Groups.pdf&ei=YDXQUqPnDs6T0QXrhIGABQ&usg=AFQjCNGQd0sIFE2ecqRSKTdBNdW0FMo20A

·         For information: - Report to Cabinet (6 November 2013) RLSCB Child Sexual Exploitation Action Plan 6 Month Progress Report

       http://moderngov.rotherham.gov.uk/documents/s89825/RLSCB%20Child%20Sexual%20Expolitation%20Action%20Plan.pdf

The Chairperson of the Improving Lives Select Commission welcomed all representatives of Rotherham’s agencies working to counter Child Sexual Exploitation in the Borough. 

Members of the Improving Lives Select Commission, along with the members of the Select Commissions, had read a number of documents that outlined previous and continuing work to counter Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham.  The documents had been circulated with the agenda and included: -

·         A précis of recent CSE reviews and inspection reports and a summary of their recommendations;

·         The review of the response to CSE in Rotherham conducted by Steve Ashley, Independent Chair of the Rotherham Local Safeguarding Board;

·         Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary South Yorkshire Police’s response to CSE – findings of an inspection commissioned by the Police and Crime             Commissioner;

·         Barnardo’s Rotherham Practice Report;

·         “If only someone had listened” Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into CSE in Gangs and Groups;

·         The report to Rotherham’s Cabinet outlining the Rotherham Local Safeguarding Children’s Board CSE Action Plan – Six-month progress report. 

The Strategic Director for Children and Young People’s Services gave a presentation that provided an overview on how all agencies were working together to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). 

The presentation covered: -

·         National Context: -

o   Recognised as one of the most important challenges;

o   Intelligence and practice was continuing to develop and local differences in approach existed;

o   There was currently no national performance measures for benchmarking purposes available;

o   The presentation outlined the large number of national reports and reviews that had taken place/been published in the past few years;

o   All of the documents had been fed into the development of the Rotherham Local Safeguarding Children Board’s Action Plan, the forthcoming document refresh would take account of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into CSE in Gangs and Groups’ Final Report.

·         Definition and summary of CSE: -

o   Was found in the ‘Statutory Guidance on Safeguarding Children and Young People from Child Sexual Exploitation’ document, 2009;

o   The range of the different types of CSE were considered;

o   The networks and different types of CSE structure/organisations was also considered;

o   Common CSE myths were shared.

·         The Local Profile: -

o   Data for 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 (to December) showed that, of the total contacts to social services, the number of contacts, and the relative overall percentage, relating to reports of CSE was relatively low;

o   The local profile of CSE reports in Rotherham was shared, along with the most common model of CSE seen;

o   This data was informing the targeting of services to geographical hotspots to prevent future exploitation, disrupt potential risky behaviours and identify and pursue offenders. 

·         The CSE Team and Partnership: -

o   The organisation of Rotherham’s Countering CSE team was shown.  The team was made up of Social Care professionals, Police and other partners, including Barnardos, GROW, nurse practitioners and Safe@Last;

o   An additional detective was due to join the team to further increase capacity;

o   External funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

·         Wednesday 12^th March, 2014, to start at 1.30 p.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall. 

Resolved: -  That the next meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission take place on Wednesday 12^th March, 2014, to start at 1.30 p.m. in the Rotherham Town Hall.