Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to issue guidance for police forces on (a) recognising and (b) responding to signs of child exploitation at the point of arrest.

The Government takes child criminal exploitation extremely seriously and is determined to tackle it. Last year we published a Child Exploitation Disruption Toolkit to help the police and other frontline safeguarding professionals understand and access tools to target the sexual and criminal exploitation of children and young people. We have also published specific guidance on county lines which provides advice on how to recognise the signs and respond appropriately so victims get the help and support they need.

We continue to work across government to identify further opportunities to strengthen and improve the response to child criminal exploitation, including regular meetings with frontline youth workers and charities to listen to their experiences. As part of this work we are examining the recommendations and learning from HMICFRS report ‘Both sides of the coin’ and the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s report ‘It was Hard to Escape’, as well as those from other safeguarding reviews relating to child criminal exploitation.

We also continue to invest in support for children and young people who are criminally exploited. This includes £860,000 this year to expand specialist one-to-one support for victims of county lines exploitation in London, the West Midlands and Merseyside. Additionally, through the Trusted Relationships Fund we are identifying innovative approaches to tackling vulnerability among children and young people at risk of exploitation including child criminal exploitation, by fostering healthy, trusting relationships with responsible adults.