AUTHORITIES in Bradford have apologised to the victims of child sexual exploitation in the district over the last 20 years.
Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Police's Bradford district commander and Bradford District and Craven CCG have released a joint statement after the Bradford Partnership – Working Together to Safeguard Children today published today a review into child sexual exploitation (CSE) cases within the Bradford district since 2001.
The review was commissioned after nine men were jailed for a total of 132 years and eight months in 2019 following the sexual exploitation of a child between 2006 and 2011 who had been in the care of the council.
Following the trial, a second woman who had suffered similar abuse came forward and criminal investigations have been carried out in respect of alleged sexual offences she suffered when also in the care of the local authority from 2001 to 2006.
This review was commissioned to understand the experiences of these two young woman and also other victims to make sure that steps have been taken to improve the way agencies work together with children today to better protect them from exploitation.
The review also includes more recent cases to understand the issues around current multi-agency practice. The review highlights areas of learning for all the partners who are responsible for protecting young people.
But it does also acknowledge a range of positive efforts that the council and partners have put in place over the last decade to tackle CSE, a view which was also acknowledged by Ofsted in their ILACS inspection of 2018 which said “the response to children at risk of child sexual exploitation is a strength”.
Since 2019, a new management team has been put in place in Children’s Services. This team has prioritised the improvement of the service, it is acknowledged that the improvement journey still has a way to go. The recommendations that the thematic review outlines form part of this improvement and action on all of them has already begun.
A joint statement from the Bradford Partnership - Working Together to Safeguard Children - executive leads: Mark Douglas - director of children’s services, Bradford Council; Helen Hirst - Chief Officer, Bradford District and Craven CCG; and Bradford District Commander Chief Superintendent Daniel Greenwood, said: “We want to apologise to the young people identified in this report and any others where the actions of agencies in Bradford has failed to protect them from child sexual exploitation (CSE).
“CSE is a horrendous crime that blights the lives of those who have suffered this form of abuse.
"It is a national issue and, like many places up and down the country, Bradford district has seen a series of cases that have gone back over the last two decades.
"This crime must not be tolerated. All the partners in our district are committed to protecting our children and to working with the police to bring perpetrators of this crime to justice.
“The Bradford Partnership have made significant changes to their response and handling of CSE over the past decade putting in place specialist teams and additional resource to this area.
"As a result of the work in this area there have been a number of successful outcomes at court where a large number of defendants were found guilty and sentenced to substantial prison sentences.
"This work will continue for as long as it is necessary and we will support anyone who comes forward with information or who has been the victim of abuse."
The statement continues, saying 'more needs to be done' on CSE cases in Bradford.
It states: “All the partners involved in tackling CSE recognise that we sadly do not get everything right all of the time and that we need to learn from cases where children have been exploited. The Partnership fully supported the commissioning of this review. Independent scrutiny of this issue is vital if we are to tackle it effectively.
“The review makes difficult reading. Many of the issues are consistent with those found in the detailed Ofsted inspection of children’s social care that was carried out in 2018 and in the Partnership’s own audits and those of single agencies. However, there is learning for all agencies as a result of this review.
“We fully accept more needs to be done which is why, along with recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring our children are safe will be the Partnership’s number one priority.
“We believe that practice across all agencies is improving and that we have learnt from the mistakes made in the past but there is much more to do. The Partnership will work tirelessly to ensure the report’s recommendations are put into practice so that our district is a safer place for all children.”
The review aims to assess whether there are themes and patterns to this abuse which the partnership can learn from, and whether there are issues around abuse that we are not aware of.
The review was commissioned in April 2019 and has been carried out independently by Clare Hyde. Its publication was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you suspect a child is being abused, call Bradford Council’s Contact Point on 01274 435600 in confidence and speak to a trained advisor or email childrens.enquiries@bradford.gov.uk
The full review will be published later today and the Telegraph & Argus will do a follow-up story based on its findings.
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