To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Hidden and Extreme Harms Prevention Committee held on 17 February 2022.

The minutes of the Hidden and Extreme Harms Prevention Committee held on 17 February 2022 were approved as a correct record.

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be

considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B

(4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no interests declared.

The Assistant Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help stated that Unaccompanied Child Asylum Seekers (UCAS) were categorised as Looked After Children (LAC), and therefore subject to LAC procedures and policies, such as reviews and regular medicals. She stated that an area’s UCAS population had to be 0.07% of the overall child population, which meant that Thurrock could receive a maximum of 31 UCAS. She added that Thurrock currently had 28 UCAS; 26 boys and 2 girls ranging from age 13 to 17. She stated that when a UCAS turned 18, they were entitled to a LAC plan and other help if they had been living in the UK for more than 13 weeks.

The Chair asked how UCAS came to England and their reasons for travelling. He queried if there was a commonality between UCAS. The Assistant Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help replied that many UCAS came via the ports in Thurrock, which meant that Thurrock was categorised as a receiving authority and had therefore signed-up the national transfer scheme to ensure that the borough did not exceed the maximum numbers of UCAS. She added that some UCAS came via lorries and were deposited at service stations in the borough. She explained that some UCAS did not have any family in their home countries and others had paid money to be brought to the UK, often embarking on a journey that could take many months.

The Assistant Director Adult Social Care and Communities joined the meeting at 7.08pm.

The Assistant Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help explained that many UCAS feared for their safety in their home countries, as many had come from war-stricken places such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan, and Syria. She summarised and stated that Thurrock had also received children from Ukraine, but these were handled under a different scheme.

Councillor Ralph queried how many UCAS received the Council’s help between the ages of 18-25, and how much this cost the Council. The Assistant Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help replied that she would find this information after the meeting and send to the Committee. She added that after the age of 18 UCAS were classed as adults and many had access to benefits or the right to work, so therefore contributed to the cost of rent and living. Councillor Shinnick asked if the team tried to reunite UCAS with their parents or other family members. The Assistant Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help explained that the team did try to reunite families of UCAS, or tried to help the child contact their family at home. Councillor Chukwu asked how the team integrated UCAS into their local communities. The Assistant Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help explained that the team used interpreters and translated documents so the child could understand what was happening. She explained that UCAS were also enrolled in the appropriate education setting, which helped them improve their English, if English was a second language, and integrate with other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Community Safety Partnership Manager introduced the report and stated that it provided an update on the previous Prevent benchmarking exercise that had been presented to the Committee. She explained that the Home Office and Prevent professionals understood that local Councillors could provide the necessary leadership and scrutiny to help facilitate the Prevent agenda, and highlighted the Members handbook and online training listed as appendices to the report. She stated that the Prevent self-assessment highlighted ten key areas, which were relevant to both funded and non-funded areas, and had been agreed upon by the Home Office in February 2022. The Community Safety Partnership Manager explained that Thurrock had shown many strengths in the benchmarking exercise including risk assessments; training; and the multi-agency safeguarding board. She explained that there had also been two areas highlighted for development: communications and engagement. She stated that the team had therefore put together the Prevent Strategy, as outlined in appendix 3 of the report and Communications Plan, which had been tailored to Thurrock. She felt there was still more work to do to improve communications and engagement, for example broader communications with parents and families. She commented that the Home Office had scrutinised the proposed Communications Plan and had felt it was a good resource that made use of national events and national campaign materials. She stated that the team were working to improve proactive communications, for example through social media and newsletters. She asked how the team could support to engage with their networks.

The Chair queried why left-wing extremism was not mentioned in the Prevent Elected Members handbook, as this had been raised at a previous committee meeting. The Community Safety Partnership Manager replied that the Members handbook was produced by the Local Government Association, so Thurrock Council were not responsible for its content. She stated that Members could get in contact with the Local Government Association if they wished this to be amended. The Chair highlighted page 65 of the report and asked how Thurrock were tackling the problem of extremist speakers. The Community Safety Partnership Manager explained that Thurrock had produced a guide for hirers to fill in when hiring out a premises to ensure the team safeguarded against hate speech being delivered in the borough. She explained that this had been shared with PubWatch and would form part of the wider Communications Plan. She added that the Prevent Strategy had also had an Equality Impact Assessment carried out as part of the governance process. The Community Safety Partnership Manager added that the questionnaire could be shared with Members outside the meeting, but highlighted that although extremist speakers in Thurrock was not a high risk, the team remained conscious that it could happen.

Councillor Ralph questioned how the team were working to reduce radicalisation and extremism via social media, including through Xbox and PlayStation games. He asked if the team could do events in schools or for parents to highlight the risk of radicalisation online. The Community Safety Partnership Manager felt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Members asked for the following items to be added to the Work Programme:

1. Department for Education Prevent lead to attend the Committee in December
2. A member of Essex Police or Border Force to attend the Committee to discuss immigration incursions
3. A report on Unaccompanied Child Asylum Seekers in December
4. A member of Essex Police to attend the committee to discuss children and local crime gangs, particularly children as drug runners
5. A report on the level of risk of COMAH sites in Thurrock in December