Summary
In response to the Child Criminal Exploitation crisis, Action for Children launched a review into Child Criminal Exploitation in Autumn 2023. The report was published on 21 March 2024 and the conclusions, whilst unsurprising, are damning; children and young people are being failed by a system that is not fit for purpose.
Details
The Review was chaired by Professor Alexis Jay CBE and the panel, which included Simon Bailey CBE QPM & Charles Geekie KC, heard from 70 organisations and individuals as well as young people and families with lived experience of child criminal exploitation.
The panel considered the means by which children and young people are commonly exploited and commented on the role that social media and gaming play in the exploitation of vulnerable young people. They highlighted that certain groups of children are more vulnerable to exploitation, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities and those growing up in poverty or in the care system and stressed the vital role that education providers play in the early identification of child criminal exploitation and support of children and young people at risk of exploitation. However, they recognised that education providers do not always feel equipped to do so. Concerns were also raised about the rising rate of exclusions and school absences and how this increases the risk of children and young people falling through the cracks.
The panel concluded that:
- there is currently no agreed legal definition of the criminal exploitation of children and the absence of a clear definition impacts the ability to identify child criminal exploitation, take appropriate action and protect and support children
- the current legislation, policy and criminal processes are not fit for purpose and too many children and young people receive a criminal justice response as the primary form of intervention. They stressed that the aim of the Youth Justice System should be to prevent exploited children entering the criminal justice system, using diversion wherever possible, and that the current legislation, which places the burden on a young person to raise enough evidence to demonstrate that they are a victim of child criminal exploitation, is incompatible with the welfare principle
- there is a lack of national data on child criminal exploitation which hinders efforts to identify, prevent and respond to it
- the current system is failing to bring exploiters to justice
They made the following recommendations:
- a single, cohesive legal code designed to tackle the criminal exploitation of children, including a statutory definition of criminal exploitation of children within UK law, new powers for the police and criminal justice system to identify and sanction exploiters and a new specific offence of criminally exploiting children
- a coordinated policy and practice at a local and national level, including a UK wide strategy for preventing criminal exploitation of children from central government and a welfare-first approach in the management of offences committed by exploited young people
- investment, research and whole-system learning, including funding for early intervention services
Commentary
In 2023, 7432 children and young people were referred to the National Referral Mechanism; an increase of 45% since 2021. In the same year, 14,420 child in need assessments recorded child criminal exploitation as a ‘risk of harm’ factor. In addition, research conducted by Action for Children found that over 130,000 parents reported that their child had shown three or more signs of child criminal exploitation over the last 12 months. These numbers and statistics speak for themselves but it must be remembered that they are more than just numbers on page; they represent the horrifying number of young lives devastated by child criminal exploitation.
The review highlights that exploited children and young people continue to be seen as criminals rather than children and victims first and that black, brown and racialised children and young people continue to be overrepresented across all forms of exploitation, particularly ‘county lines’. It stresses that the fight against child criminal exploitation requires a multi-agency approach and that the current system is failing victims of child criminal exploitation; more needs to be done. The recommendations made by The Jay Review are welcomed and with the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Modern Slavery Act 2015 due by 30 November 2024, this could be the perfect opportunity for more to be done to keep our young people safe. Let’s hope it is taken.
For guidance on representing children and young people who are victims of child criminal exploitation, please see the following YJLC toolkit:
Written by Sabrina Neves, Solicitor at GT Stewart Solicitors