Agenda item

To consider reports and background information from the PCC on the Panel’s themed item on Exploitation.

A representative from Oxford Against Cutting will be in attendance and for the Panel’s information the organisation’s Annual Review for 2020 is attached.

Attached are:

Appendix 1 - an infographic (‘Overview of Modern Slavery in the Thames Valley – 2019’)

Appendix 2 - short presentation by the OPCC to the ‘Modern Slavery National Networking Meeting’ held on 1 October 2019 which summarises PCC activity in this service area

Appendix 3 - Paper on ‘Evaluation of a Model for Identifying and Supporting Victims of Modern Slavery and Exploitation’

Appendix 4 - the ‘Unseen Modern Slavery Helpline (national helpline) Annual Assessment 2018’ report

Appendix 5 - In 2017, the OPCC ran a FGM workshop attended by a range of professionals and, from this, identified key concerns in the Thames Valley

Appendix 6 - FGM Awareness Training Project Infographic

Appendix 7 - Data Masters Workshop on data for hidden harm - honour-based abuse (January 2020) (presentation attached)

The Panel was provided with a report on its wide-ranging themed item of “Exploitation”, together with additional supporting documents relating to the areas covered under “Exploitation”.

The Police and Crime Commissioner provided statistics and data for the Thames Valley to enable Panel members to receive a Thames Valley perspective on the issues of exploitation and the prevention of child sexual exploitation (CSE), modern slavery, forced marriage, hidden harm, female genital mutilation (FGM) and people trafficking.

The Panel was informed that from a PCC’s perspective, the prevention of exploitation generally related to two of the strategic priorities detailed in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan 2017-2021:

·         Strategic Priority 1, ‘Vulnerability’ (which includes the response by police and partners to human trafficking, forced marriages, FGM, CSE and other hidden harm such as honour-based violence, coercive control, stalking and harassment)

·         Strategic Priority 2, ‘Prevention and Early Intervention’ (which includes the prevention of CSE and FGM).

The Chairman of the Panel gave Members the background to the item and referred to this Panel setting up a Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Sub-Committee as a result of the Operation Bullfinch Inquiry into sexual exploitation of children in Oxford. The PCC provided brilliant support to this to drive forward the objectives of the Sub-Committee which was to raise awareness across the Thames Valley of CSE and other exploitation related issues.

Kate Agha from Oxford against Cutting attended the meeting and provided the Panel with details of the work the organisation carried out throughout the three counties of the Thames Valley, in conjunction with other organisations.

FGM was a form of child abuse and a violation of Human Rights. Oxford against Cutting was a diverse organisation, both at Board Level and in terms of Directors and facilitators. Women of different nationalities, some of whom have been affected by the practice carry out the work of the organisation.

The organisation focused on harmful practises such as FGM, Honour Based abuses and Forced Marriages. The core work was around prevention and education with workshops facilitated by survivors of harmful practises, so they had that experience and knowledge to enable them to speak about the impact of these practises and the impact on the individual and families.

Oxford against Cutting received funding from the PCC for a two-year school project and was able to provide 60 sessions in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, which reached 2,770 people by the end of the 2 years.

FGM was a taboo subject, was hidden, was difficult to measure and hard to know how to prevent. This was a cultural issue, with people often reluctant to talk about it. There was a nervousness of teachers in school talking about FGM and Forced Marriage, particularly because of cultural sensitivity.

A consequence of the sessions has been the huge increase in confidence in talking about FGM during safeguarding. In Berkshire for example before the schools’ project, 43% were not confident talking about the issue, but at the end of the training, 71% felt more confident. Poster campaigns took place, during lockdown, a web café was held, for those women who could not access community groups.

Reference was made to work carried out by the organisation, which was commissioned by PCC; the Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) project, which focused on engaging and raising awareness around such crime types/victims across the Thames Valley region.

Reference was made to some of the projects in partnership Oxford against Cutting was involved with such as with Oxfordshire County Council and the Chairman asked if this information could be sent out. In addition, the Chairman asked that details of events be shared with Panel Members and CSPs to enable messages to get out into the community.

The Panel was informed that the organisation carried out most of its work in Oxfordshire where it was based, however, schools training on FGM and Honour Based Abuse was delivered in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

In response to a question, Kate Agha reported that Oxford against Cutting did not directly receive funding from the Home Office, however, financial support came from Thames Valley PCC, Oxfordshire County Council and MK MASH. 

The PCC reported that in his early days as PCC, Sexual Crimes against Children was brought to the fore by the Bullfinch Inquiry in Oxford. In relation to FGM, he had financially supported organisations who fought to eradicate this. This was well supported, particularly in Oxfordshire, but not as well as in other parts of the Thames Valley. The PCC expressed concern at areas such as Slough where this hidden crime went undetected, partly because people were reluctant to speak to the authorities. Educating people that this practise was unacceptable in the UK was important.

The Chairman referred to the importance of schools, and particularly teachers making the authorities aware of children who were being trafficked abroad for FGM and for Forced Marriages. The PCC was asked to encourage greater coverage of the Thames Valley in relation to combatting these issues as Berkshire and Buckinghamshire did not have the same level of coverage. 

Questions

(1)       Recent reports have indicated that there have been a record number of child sex abuse crimes reported to TVP, with over 2,000 in the last 12 months up to June 2019. What more can the PCC do to ensure that he is meeting his Strategic Priority 2 objective of prevention and early intervention, which these figures on CSE indicate he is not?

[The PCC reported that Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs throughout the Thames Valley were there for the public to report such crimes, although he recognised that they were reactive. He reiterated the role which schools and teachers had in preventing such crime. It was not always the case that teachers reported these crimes. The problem was not just a Police issue, local authorities and other agencies had a role to play in terms of early intervention and prevention.

The Panel was informed that the reporting of such crimes had improved which meant the statistics were misleading. The greater the promotion of reporting these crimes, the more cases there would be, therefore it was difficult to determine whether child sexual abuse had gone up. The Chief Constable explained that there had to be caution regarding whether these crimes had increased. There had been increased awareness of hidden crimes such as FGM, Forced Marriage, Honour Based Crimes etc, which had resulted in more reporting so an increase in the number of reported crimes was not necessarily a negative.]

(2)       The representative from Oxford against Cutting was asked whether women from the affected communities were part of the organisation?

[Kate Agha replied that women from affected communities were involved in the organisation which helped in terms of reaching out to communities. Ideally it would be helpful if there were outreach workers in each county, although Oxford against Cutting did cover the whole of the Thames Valley. The Chairman stressed the importance of Members of the Panel being conduits on these issues through their local authorities and to look at ways of providing possible funding.]

(3)       Reference was made to Thames Valley’s Independent Trauma Advisors project and the cost benefit analysis as detailed on page 57 of the agenda. The PCC was asked for clarity and more detail on the figures.

[The PCC undertook to provide clarification on this to Councillor McHugh.]               

(4)       Could the PCC explain why in relation to Modern Slavery was the rate of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (2016-17) increased in the Thames Valley by 122%, compared to a national average of 63%? Have the referral figures for Thames Valley got better?

[The PCC replied that making something a priority would result in figures going up. The Chief Constable referred to a significant training programme which officers undertook which raised everyone’s awareness to Modern Slavery, Hidden Harm etc, which resulted in greater reporting.]

(5)       In relation to FGM, there is a lot of very good educational work taking place across the Thames Valley, however, to ensure consistency of approach, would the development of a Thames Valley FGM strategy help in tackling the problem? Also, what more can be done for the Police to get prosecutions on FGM and Forced Marriage. 

[The PCC reported that this was often very difficult as do you want to take the children away from the parents. There were no easy answers, but facilitators needed to be prosecuted. The Chief Constable reported that in 2019/20 in the Thames Valley there were 9 offences of Forced Marriage, but there were no prosecutions. This was a complex area with offences committed behind closed doors and with communities staying silent. Kate Agha added that if the Police and authorities were heavy handed, certain communities would feel alienated. There was a difficult line to tread.]

The Chairman thanked the PCC, the Chief Constable and Kate Agha for their excellent contributions to the themed item and commented that he was heartened at the work and the funding provided by the PCC into this area.

Reference was made to other areas of exploitation which the Panel should look at which included Modern Slavery; particularly in relation to car washes, agricultural work and building work and Forced Marriage and Honour Based Crime. Within Honour Based Crime, there was also a hidden crime of homosexual men being forced into marriage.

It was agreed that these issues comprise another themed scrutiny item and be included in this Panel’s work programme for a future meeting.

RESOLVED – That the information provided by the PCC and Oxford against Cutting be noted and the Panel will continue to monitor this area.