Agenda item

Report of the Head of Legal and Governance

The Chair introduced the item, which was requested by the Committee in light of the recent high profile nationally of County Lines. The Committee heard from the Police and the Crime and Drugs Partnership at the November meeting with regards to combating youth criminality. This meeting focused on prevention, diversionary tactics, social support and education.

Helen Blackman, Director of Children’s Integrated Services, and Shelley Nicholls, Head of Early Help Services, delivered a presentation highlighting the following:

(a)  the term County Lines is becoming widely recognised to describe situations where young people may be internally trafficked for the purpose of criminal exploitation and the use of mobile phone lines by gangs looking to extend their drug dealing activity into locations outside their areas;

(b)  young people are often tricked into debt, meaning that they will be in ‘debt bondage’ to the gang, owing it a debt which may have interest. They are also given gifts and protection, with use of the word ‘family’ making them feel that they belong;

(c)  key learning is being delivered to raise awareness for professionals, such as school staff, and the council will be sharing lessons across partnerships about how children are being groomed;

(d)  children often believe that they have made an active choice to join in with offending and deny that they have been exploited. This often leads to them being mistakenly viewed as suspects rather than victims;

(e)  there are many signs and indicators to be aware of for a child that is being criminally exploited. These include excess cash, leaving home without explanation, unexplained injuries, increase in mobile phone use, significant decline in school performance and changes in emotional wellbeing. Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) impacts on both the children themselves and their families or carers;

(f)  a multi-agency response is required, including parents/carers and the voluntary sector. A screening tool has been developed to look at recognised indicators of CCE;

(g)  a ‘hub’ is being piloted to reduce youth violence, as there is a strong link between young people involved in offending and violent incidents and those at risk of CCE and County Lines. The ‘hub’ comprises of Children’s Integrated Services and Community Protection, and works closely with schools and police to identify those at risk.

Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years, explained that CCE has been around for a long time, but County Lines is a modern version as it involves new technology such as mobile phones and social media. As Nottingham is a city with a lot of deprivation its young people are vulnerable and everybody has a part to play to tackle this growing issue.

The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:

(h)  although some may be more vulnerable, all children are at risk of CCE. They may live at home with their parents and have no previous criminal behaviour;

(i)  sometimes a vulnerable adult’s premises is used as a base of criminal activity. These vulnerable adults should be supported as well, and not necessarily given criminal convictions;

(j)  CCE is a national issue which requires collaboration with other local authorities, which the council does at the Youth Justice Board. Other authorities such as Glasgow have done some important work which could be useful as models;

(k)  the city’s Priority Families programme identifies families with both children and adults who are at risk, taking a whole family approach to early intervention;

(l)  electively home-educated children are registered and visited annually. If there have been any previous concerns they are monitored more closely. Elective Home Education is a legitimate choice for many families but can be difficult to monitor;

(m)permanently excluded school pupils are more vulnerable to CCE, though there are many other factors. The council is working with schools to reduce the number of permanent exclusions through intervention.

RESOLVED to

(1)  note the information provided at the meeting held on 7 November 2018, and at today’s meeting;

(2)  thank Tim Spink and Steve Harrison from the Crime and Drugs Partnership, Alex Castle-Clark from Community Protection, Detective Sergeant Mike Ebbins from Nottinghamshire Police, Malcolm Dillon from the Nottingham City Safeguarding Adults Board, Helen Blackman and Shelley Nicholls from Nottingham City Council, and Councillor David Mellen for their informative presentations and their collaborative work in tackling this issue;

(3)   consider what Councillors can do to help identify victims of CCE, and reinforce the message of exploited young people as victims.