Telford Child Sexual Exploitation: 'Cautious confidence' about changes

Last year, a report found more than 1,000 girls in Telford had been abused

A council has said it is "cautiously confident" about the changes it has made since a report found generations of children had been abused in Telford.

An independent inquiry made dozens of recommendations and Telford and Wrekin Council said it had actioned half.

The report acknowledged there "remains a lot of work to do" and found 13 victims of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the area over the past year.

It also recorded 181 suspects since 2020 but just four people were charged.

Councillors will be asked to consider the report into the authority's progress at a meeting next week.

In the independent inquiry, chair Tom Crowther KC detailed 47 recommendations and 148 actions for organisations including the council, police and health providers.

Councillor Shirley Reynolds said the council was "making solid progress" across the 29 recommendations and 82 actions it has sole responsibility for.

Many of the recommendations it has implemented relate to taxi-licensing and the night-time economy, according to the report.

The council said it was aiming to invite Mr Crowther back to the town by the end of the year to consider the progress made.

Telford Council said it had made "solid progress" implementing recommendations

The inquiry was set up after a Sunday Mirror investigation revealed gangs had been abusing girls in Telford since the 1980s.

In his findings Mr Crowther said obvious evidence of child sex crimes had been ignored for generations and more than 1,000 girls had been abused.

He concluded that the abuse was ongoing in the town and in its latest report, published on Wednesday evening, Telford and Wrekin Borough Council said 180 reports concerning 126 possible victims had been recorded in the past year.

Of these, 13 children were found to be CSE victims and a further 16 were at risk of being exploited. They were all referred for support.

The council and police were told to produce annual reports into CSE in Telford

The report also highlighted work by West Mercia Police, which was heavily criticised in the original inquiry.

Over the past three years, the force has investigated 181 CSE crimes and identified 120 suspects - including 15 who were identified in more than one investigation.

However only four people - 2% of suspects - had been charged or summonsed, which is even below the national average of 4%.

In the report released by Telford and Wrekin Council officers cited two main reasons: a lack of evidence and victims no longer wishing to proceed.

Assistant chief constable Damian Barratt said the force was "confident that our approach is better than it has ever been, however we want to be open and acknowledge that there is still more work to be done".

"Improvements had been made to the way we respond to CSE prior to the publication of the [independent inquiry] but we have also embraced the recommendations and progressed them at pace over the last 12 months," he said.

The force has also recruited seven new detectives to help improve the outcomes of CSE investigations.

Mr Crowther made 47 recommendations in his independent inquiry

Mr Crowther's recommendations included the council and police publishing a joint annual review into CSE, of which this is the first, as well as improving information sharing, introducing specialist training in schools and for police officers and healthcare staff, and funding for victim support services.

When his findings were published, the council said it would ensure all the recommendations would be implemented by the end of 2023 and its latest report said it was "on track".

Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said it was clear "significant progress" had been made by the force, although there was still much to do.

He said he had funded 20 roles "to provide tailored support to young people and children as well as training for more than 18,000 key workers to help identify the signs of child exploitation".

"It's equally important that those committing these offences feel the full extent of the law," Mr Campion said, adding that he would continue to work closely with the force and others to ensure they had "the resources and tools they need to bring offenders causing harm in our communities to justice".