The Rotherham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership have agreed the Child Exploitation Strategy 2024-29: A vision for managing risk outside the home today, (Wednesday 17 July).

The strategy sets out how organisations will keep children and young people safe from child exploitation over the next five years. Child exploitation includes child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, radicalisation, modern slavery, human trafficking and honour-based violence.

The new strategy will address a number of local priorities. This includes continuing to ensure there is an effective response to tackling exploitation through effective early identification and prevention services embedded in communities, the right learning and development offer for all relevant organisations and community groups, ensuring robust safeguarding processes and systems are in place, the continued provision of support to victims and survivors of exploitation, and identifying offenders of exploitation to bring them to justice.

Preceding the ten-year anniversary of the publication of the Jay Report, the strategy demonstrates the continued commitment by partners to listening to the voice and lived experience of victims and survivors and using this to develop services. There remains a focus on community engagement and partnerships with families, parents and carers and children and young people in the strategy that will be a key priority for its duration.

The partnership has been on a significant improvement journey over the last ten years, with progress validated by external and independent experts.

  • The Office for Standards in Education Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) has consistently rated Rotherham Council as ‘Good’ and the recent Focused Visit confirms that it is unstinting in its determination to make children in Rotherham safer and improve their outcomes.
  • His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services rated the service offered in protecting vulnerable people by South Yorkshire Police as ‘Outstanding’
  • An independent review into the response to child sexual exploitation provided reassurance that partnership “processes are not simply paper-based but active, embedded and protecting children and young people in Rotherham.”

All of the above reports and their recommendations have been integral to the development of the strategy and its associated Delivery Plan.

Progress has also been made to ensure offenders are brought to justice through Operation Stovewood. As of July 2024, over 200 arrests had been made, resulting in 33 convictions being secured, with a combined total of over 250 years imprisonment. A number of active investigations remain under Operation Stovewood and the partnership is determined to ensure all victims have access to justice and will not stop until the investigations are concluded and communities safeguarded. It is expected that Operation Stovewood will continue until at least 2027. All current investigations continue to be managed across the partnership, with South Yorkshire Police leading criminal investigations.

The Rotherham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership will review progress against the delivery plan and an annual report will be presented to Improving Lives Select Commission for scrutiny, subject to approval from Rotherham Council’s Cabinet.

Darren Downs, Independent Scrutineer for the Rotherham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership, said: “Our journey has been highly publicised and rightly scrutinised. We will never be complacent about the threat of harm to local children.

“The partnership will continue to do all that we can to support the victims of child exploitation, whilst ensuring that offenders are brought to justice. The new strategy defines the roles and responsibilities of key partner agencies and how we will work together to deliver key priorities.”

Councillor Victoria Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People at Rotherham Council, said: “Over the last ten years, we have been committed to listening to the voice and lived experience of victims and survivors in order to drive improvements in services. We have made significant strides forward in the way that we tackle child exploitation in Rotherham and the Council’s Children’s Services have been graded as “Good” consistently by Ofsted since 2017. We will continue to build on this work alongside partners, and in delivering the priorities set out in this strategy.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Laura Koscikiewicz, District Commander for Rotherham and force lead on tackling vulnerability, said: “The Jay Report was a watershed moment for policing. Since then, we have worked tirelessly to deepen our understanding and share that knowledge to tackle exploitation in all its forms. This was recognised by the policing inspectorate as ‘outstanding’. That said, we recognise this type of offending is ever evolving and we must keep pace to ensure we protect children. This strategy sets out exactly how we will do that.”

Chris Edwards, Deputy Chief Executive and Place Director for Rotherham at NHS South Yorkshire, said: “Over the last 10 years the NHS in Rotherham has worked closely with Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police to make sure we have robust arrangements in place to safeguard our children, and to support victims of exploitation.

“This strategy builds on that work and defines the roles and responsibilities of key partner agencies and how we will work together to deliver our priorities.”

You can view the Child Exploitation Strategy at: Appendix 1 - CE Strategy Final 2024-29.pdf (rotherham.gov.uk)