Children in Wales being left vulnerable to gangs – Senedd report

Children across Wales are being left vulnerable to exploitation by gangs, according to a Senedd report.

The Children, Young People and Education Committee has listed a number of “missed opportunities” to stop organised crime groups taking advantage of children.

The inquiry heard from young people who had been criminally exploited, who shared their experiences of inconsistent support in schools, and broken promises from overworked professionals.

The ‘Children on the Margins’ report published on Thursday (December 5) has made 23 recommendations that can rectify these issues.

Risk

Buffy Williams MS, Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee said: “This report can be read as a story of missed opportunities. Our inquiry heard evidence of missed opportunities to identify at risk children and support them, missed opportunities to respond when things escalate, and missed opportunities to take action at critical moments.

“When those opportunities are missed, children can be subject to abhorrent criminal exploitation and abuse. It will fundamentally shape their lives and the lives of their friends and families.

“Some children will not survive the exploitation and abuse they experience.

“We believe that the recommendations in this report, if accepted and implemented by this and future Welsh Governments, will make a real and tangible difference to the lives of our most vulnerable children.”

Exploitation

Children who were excluded or refused to go to school was raised in evidence more than any other single risk factor for exploitation.

The Committee heard evidence that very few children who have been exploited were regularly attending school.

Action for Children says over 90% of the children referred to their services in Wales have faced exclusion from education.

The five young contributors with experience of being criminally exploited said being excluded from school was the thing they were most angered by.

One anonymous participant said: “I hated school, teachers hated me and my mum didn’t know what to do or how to look after me.

“I was put on a reduced timetable, so I was out on the street when all the other kids were in school.

“That’s how they [gangs] spot the vulnerable ones. These kids are out there because the school’s given up on them, their parents don’t want them around, and they’re just desperate for someone to care. I would have been safer if I’d stayed in school.”

The Committee noted the challenge faced by schools in trying to keep the most vulnerable children in education.

Exclusion 

Members said they do not underestimate how hard it is for schools to evaluate the needs of the individual child alongside those of the wider school community.

They have called for the Welsh Government to do more to help schools balance the risks of exclusion and keep vulnerable children attending.

the Committee said that a conversation with a trusted adult after a missing child returns home, are an essential safeguarding tool and can give children the chance to report exploitation at an earlier opportunity.

Since 2014, offering an independent return interview to all young people who have been reported as missing has been a statutory duty in England.

This is not the case in Wales, where return interviews are offered inconsistently, or not at all, depending on the area.

The Committee has called for the Welsh Government to make the offer of a return interview a statutory requirement following each missing episode and for the information learned in those interviews to be shared with all relevant stakeholders.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We thank the Committee for their report and the insights from those with lived experience.

“No child or young person should be subjected to exploitation and abuse. We will continue to work closely with the UK Government and other partners on these issues, and will respond to the Committee in due course.”