Region’s councils given £4m to steer children away from abuse
A LOCAL authority which was at the centre of one of the country’s biggest child sex abuse scandals is to receive more than £1m to help steer young people away from exploitation, abuse and a life of crime.
The Home Office today announced Rotherham Council is one of five authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber set to benefit from the Government’s Trusted Relationship Fund.
The fund was set up to help social workers, police, nurses and other professionals form close, protective relationships with children and young people who are at risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE), county lines, gang crime or relationship abuse.
In Rotherham the money will support the continuation of a programme being delivered by the charity Barnardo’s, which uses trained individuals including former gang members, mentors and trusted adults already known to the children.
Similar schemes will also be funded in North Yorkshire, Bradford and North East Lincolnshire.
Following a visit to Rotherham yesterday, Victoria Atkins, the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, said: “It is awful to think so many children have to tackle life without a strong adult figure they can confide in and that this may leave them vulnerable for predatorial criminals who just want to exploit them and pull them into a life of violence, crime or abuse. The Government is committed to helping young people and the Trusted Relationships Fund is just one way we are intervening early.”
The education watchdog Ofsted said in January that children’s services in Rotherham had been transformed since an inspection in 2014 identified “widespread and serious failures” of children in need of help.
Another inquiry had found at least 1,400 children had been subject to sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town.
Deputy leader Gordon Watson, who also serves as Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, today said: “Our priority is making sure that any vulnerable young person in Rotherham has access to support at the earliest opportunity.
“It’s important that we are working in partnership with independent non-statutory organisations to achieve this, which is why we’ve been working with Barnardo’s over the last three years to provide services for anyone at risk of CSE.”
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan added: “This new government funding for vital early intervention preventative work will allow us to continue to build on what we have already achieved.
“It will also give us the opportunity to support and protect vulnerable children who are being exposed to other forms of exploitation, such as criminal exploitation by gangs and peer relationship abuse.”
North Yorkshire County Council and York Council will receive more than £1.1m for a joint project similar to that being run in Rotherham.
In Bradford, around £1m will be put towards intensive support for children aged 10 to 14 who are at risk of sexual exploitation as well as awareness programmes targeted at parents.
And more than £975,000 has been awarded for a four-year project to support children in North East Lincolnshire who are most at risk of criminal exploitation, including the siblings of young people affiliated to gangs.