Claire Pascoe, Child Sexual Exploitation Manager, presented the report that had set out the actions that Thurrock Social Care had taken over the past year and what was planned for the coming year alongside the achievements made to date. Working persistently and collaboratively to safeguard the children of Thurrock from Sexual Exploitation and any associated harms by reviewing the current Child Sexual Exploitation, Missing and Trafficking position as assessed by the Thurrock Children’s Social Care.

Claire Pascoe briefed Members on the key achievements in identifying and tackling Child Sexual Exploitation both internally and across Thurrock.

The Vice Chair thanked Claire Pascoe for the very detailed report and was pleased to hear that the Child Sexual Exploitation Manager was now a substantive post.

The Vice Chair questioned what training could be undertaken with private taxi drivers. Claire Pascoe stated that she would be interested to include private taxi companies into the training schedule but unfortunately many of these were licenced in London.  Claire Pascoe agreed to make some enquiries and contact any such operators.

Councillor Redsell stated that Thurrock taxi drivers had to undertake further scrutiny under the Licensing Committee where as private drivers such as UBER do not.

Claire Pascoe stated that the figures quoted in the Thurrock Picture section of the report referred to Looked After Children.

Councillor Redsell questioned what training was being undertaken in Thurrock schools. Claire Pascoe stated that Local Safeguarding Children Board undertook training on Stranger Danger and Walk Online which would be directly communicated with Thurrock children and parents. These schemes had been recognised by Ofsted and between August 2016 and August 2017, 2207 children had received the Stranger Danger training.

Councillor Redsell stated that the 2207 figure did not seem a lot when compared to the number of schools and children in Thurrock.  Claire Pascoe stated that the Local Safeguarding Children Board was commissioned to undertake this training to children of all ages in primary and secondary schools. Claire Pascoe agreed to obtain the exact number of those children trained and update Members.

Councillor Watkins thanked Claire Pascoe for the report and reiterated that training should be undertaken with all children whether in primary or secondary schools. That focus on training going forward should be paramount with more children having access to IT and with the introduction of more social media apps, with training being specific to the age of that child.

Paul Gregory requested the number of Looked After Children that formed part of those children currently assessed as being at risk of child sexual exploitation.

Councillor Watkins asked whether extra curriculum groups such as brownies, scouts and after-school clubs could benefit from this training. Claire Pascoe stated that this training should be made available from a broader approach but would be dependent on the capacity of the Local Safeguarding Children Board team.

Keeley Pullen, Head Teacher for Virtual School, stated that e-safety training formed part of the statutory curriculum in schools and that support for children and parents would be available.

The Vice Chair thanked Claire Pascoe and moved to the recommendation that Members noted and commented on the report.

RESOLVED

That the Corporate Parenting Committee noted the report.