A case review into sexual exploitation of children and vulnerable adults in Newcastle released

The 150 page report covers 2007 - 2015.

It says the true scale of the problems in the City was only uncovered in 2014 when 2 women came forward to police to talk about their experiences.

Before that Police, council and other agencies admit that investigating, prosecuting and disrupting people committing the crimes was inconsistent.

Some of its main findings are:

Sexual exploitation involves adults with vulnerabilities and children

Sexual exploitation of adults with vulnerabilities is likely to be occurring unrecognised in other areas

From early 2014, the response to victims was swift, determined and committed

Political correctness or fear of appearing racist did not influence earlier decisions

No complaints about a lack of action by authorities had previously been made

Large numbers of perpetrators were disrupted, prosecuted and convicted

Large numbers of victims were identified, supported and protected

Services in Newcastle were high-quality and have attracted national recognition

Innovative use of existing legislation led to victims being protected

The report also found:

Until early 2014 despite measures taken to assess the prevalence of sexual exploitation it was not fully understood

This was due to a reliance on victims being able to give accounts and to give evidence in court

Confidentiality in sexual health clinics made it difficult to identify and help victims

Victims found and continue to find giving evidence in court “abusive and destructive”

Perpetrators are arrogant, persistent and undeterred by police and agencies

Research and guidance is needed to help practitioners and agencies understand the profiles, motivations and cultural influences of offenders.

Sexual exploitation of boys and men is complex and hidden

The report can be read in full *here*herehere

The report makes 33 recommendations to identify lessons that agencies can put into practice to prevent and tackle exploitation in the city.

The report's author, Barrister, David Spicer, said:

"Unlike some areas, Newcastle agencies did not try and sweep this under the carpet but actively went looking for it and as a result a large number of perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted, and victims saved from further trauma. That is not to say that lessons have not been learned."

One such is to carry out research into why people offend this way and how it can be prevented - you can see all the recommendations below.

David Spicer says things could have been done better if it was fully understood:

Newcastle council say they're working very closely with safeguarding boards to ensure recommendation are implemented.

Chief Exec of the Council is Pat Ritchie:

"I'd like to thank Mr Spicer for a very thorough and comprehensive report. It highlights the complex nature of sexual exploitation, the difficulties in identifying it, bringing the perpetrators to justice and the specialist long term support that is needed to help victims cope.

"I'd like to reassure everyone that the council is working very closely with both the adult and children's safeguarding boards to ensure all of the recommendations are progressed and implemented in a timely manner.

"We know it is still going on in our city, but we are doing everything in our power to prevent it, disrupt it and deal with it, and support the victims for years to come."

Pat Ritchie says once they knew about the abuse they acted:

Zoe Lodrick is a sexual trauma specialist - she says this isn't just confined to Newcastle:

Temporary Deputy Chief of Northumbria Police, Darren Best, said:

"We welcome this review. It is fair to say that in recent years we, as a society, have undergone a sea-change in terms of our knowledge and understanding of sexual exploitation; from the behaviour of perpetrators to the long-term impact on victims.

"Preventative work is key and a wide-range of safeguarding work is being carried out across the city involving the likes of police, local authority, health, education, business and local communities"

Darren Best says they're working with agencies to support victims and to disrupt offenders:

The NSPCC have given us their response to the report:

“For too long, not enough was done by many organisations to prevent children suffering appalling sexual exploitation in Newcastle. But while there should be no room for complacency, this report makes clear that significant strides have been made in dealing with these issues in recent years.

“That knowledge and understanding must continue to be shared across the UK, and ongoing support for victims is absolutely paramount.

“The review highlights the extremely complex nature of these abhorrent crimes. At Childline we have seen a sharp rise in calls from children about grooming and exploitation, which tells us about the confusion, guilt and shame they are feeling.

“We want every child and young person to understand what sexual exploitation is, and know that it is categorically not their fault. “

Here's the recommendations.

Local

1 - Newcastle Safeguarding Child Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board should make arrangements to review the progress and impact of the actions taken and intended to be taken as a result of carrying out the Joint Serious Case Review.

2 - A report should be made to Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board on the arrangements to take forward the initiative to establish a process for discussion with communities that issues that arisen for the Joint Serious Case Review.

3 - Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board should continue to work with relevant partners to try and encourage conversations with perpetrators to better understand the Newcastle context of their offending.

4 - When considering national guidance or advice Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should ensure that expectations for engagement with a national agency that is not a local partner are addressed and kept under review.

5 - Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should identify services in the community that are not routinely involved with local safeguarding arrangements and consider how best to engage with them on safeguarding issues.

6 - Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board should arrange to carry out an audit of a sufficient number of cases to form a judgement about whether regulatory and guidance expectations concerning pupils who change educational settings are consistently followed.

7 - Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should carry out an audit of a sufficient number of cases to form a judgement about the effectiveness of arrangements to interview vulnerable adults following a period of missing.

8 - The outcomes of audits carries out in Newcastle to review the processes of assessment of capacity patients to receive sexual health services should be reported to Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board

9 - Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should consider what arrangements can be made to monitor the numbers of patients who are identifies as sexual exploitation victims and have received sexual health services.

10 - NHS Newcastle and Gateshead Clinical Commissioning Group should arrange a forum for discussion about how potential and actual victims of grooming and sexual sexploitation might be more likely to be identifies in health settings and report to the Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board

11 - Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should arrange a forum for discussion about collaborative working between the school nursing service and teaching staff.

12 - There should be reports made to Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board on the outcomes of the actions taken to improve information sharing in the region when vulnerable children or adults more administrative areas.

13 - Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should consider how access for practitioners to advice on cultural attitudes when assessing and managing risks might be improved.

14 - Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust should report to Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board on the arrangements being made for local deliver of the Governments ambition to improve access to Mental Health Services for all children and young people, including those sexually exploited.

15 - Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should arrange for guidance to be issued to practitioners on the differences between learning disability and learning difficulties and the relevance for safeguarding judgements and services.

16 - When reviewing the training strategy Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board should have regard to the issues raised at the Learning Events

17 - Partner agencies should report to Newcastle Safeguarding Children Board and Newcastle Safeguarding Adult Board on the arrangements for supervision of staff and how they measure the effectiveness and impact on outcomes.

18 - Newcastle Safeguarding Board, involving the Northumbria Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Crown Prosecution Service, should arrange for discussions to take place with Newcastle Crown Court to consider how practical arrangements at court can be improved to ensure protection of the interest of victims giving evidence

National

19 - The Government should carry out a review of vehicle licensing for driving vehicles that transport members of the public, to include arrangements for private operators of larger vehicles, and taking account of the body of knowledge about sexual exploitation.

20 - The Government should urgently issue guidance or advice on addressing sexual exploitation of vulnerable adults.

21 - The Government should arrange for research to be undertaken concerning profiles, motivations and cultural and background influences of perpetrators of sexual exploitation of children and vulnerable adults and publish guidance for strategists and practitioners on the most effective way to reduce offending.

22 - The Crown Prosecution Service should arrange for guidelines to be developed on involvement of the Service with Safeguarding Boards and other local safeguarding frameworks.

23 - The Government should ensure that when national guidance or advice requires involvement of a national agency or one which is not a statutory local partner with Safeguarding Boards or other local safeguarding frameworks, the documents include confirmation that the agency is aware of and has made arrangements for the expected involvement.

24 - The Government should consider which community services not routinely involved with local safeguarding frameworks have a contribution to make to early identification and prevention of sexual exploitation and make arrangements to ensure that their contribution is made and monitored through regulatory functions or otherwise.

25 - The Government should arrange for a review of the safeguarding implications for children educated otherwise than at school having regard particularly to the body of knowledge about sexual exploitation, issue guidance on safeguarding children educated otherwise than at school and consider the need for legislation to more effectively regulate this provision.

26 - The Government should arrange for national research to be carried out on the impact on sexual exploitation of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education programmes.

27 - National Health Service England should consider establishing a risk information sharing system for sexual health settings.

28 - The Government should consider whether The Child Protection - Information Sharing Project arrangements should also apply to safeguarding adults systems and procedures.

29 - The Government should urgently arrange for the principles applied to confidentiality and safeguarding in sexual health settings to be reviewed having regard to the body of knowledge about sexual exploitation.

30 - The Government should address the need to improve national arrangements for facilitating transfer of data between social care authorities.

31 - The Government should review the arrangements for obtaining authority to control or restrict the liberty of children and vulnerable adults at risk of sexual exploitation with a view to improving flexibility of provision and reducing costs and complexity of judicial overview.

32 - The Government should arrange for a review of the criminal law to ensure that it provides a range of criminal offences that reflect the body of knowledge about sexual exploitation, more effectively address the behaviour and involvement of perpetrators and does not through terminology cause distress to victims.

33 - In the light of the body of knowledge about sexual exploitation and continuing concerns about the treatment of victims when giving evidence in criminal proceedings and the impact on the fair administration of justice, the Government should arrange for a review of the rules relating to the treatment of victims when giving evidence and the disclosure of records and their use in proceedings, including whether data subjects should be made aware of material disclosed