A recent Children, Young People and Education Committee inquiry looked at what is known about missing and criminalised children in Wales. Its work included:
- looking at the nature and scale of missing and criminalised children, and whether there is a different picture in different parts of Wales;
- finding out which children are most at risk; and
- examining how effective relevant policies and frontline practice are, including how applicable devolved powers (like children’s social care) and UK powers (like criminal justice) interact and work together.
The Committee’s report refers to missing and criminally exploited children as ‘Children on the Margins’ and says:
There are certain risk factors that make marginalisation more likely. But ultimately, any child can become marginalised. Any child can go missing, and any child can be exploited.
Its evidence base includes meeting frontline practitioners and stakeholders, interviews with parents and young people, receiving written evidence and a film summary of the experiences of young survivors of criminal exploitation. The Committee also asked direct questions of the police and health boards to get a better picture of what emergency and frontline services know about the nature and scale of missing and criminally exploited children in Wales.
Based on what it heard, it made 23 recommendations for change. Next week Senedd Members will debate both what the Committee found and how the Welsh Government has responded so far.
‘A child is reported missing every hour’
Routine statistics about all missing children are not published. NYAS Cymru and the Children’s Society’s Missing the Point report cites FOI data which shows 3,250 children went missing in Wales at least once in 2019-20. The report says:
Every year in Wales over 10,000 incidents of missing children and young people are reported to the police. That means a child is reported missing every hour.
The Welsh Government does publish data on Children who go missing from care during the year, by local authority. This data shows that in 2022-23, of a total of 7,210 children in care, there were:
- 5,391 reports of children missing from care; and
- 2,097 individual children went missing from care.
A story of missed opportunities
A professional who had reviewed a range of case files of criminally exploited children from across Wales described reviewing the life stories of criminally exploited children like “looking at a car crash in slow motion”- in that the risk factors were obvious from the outset, and that without the right intervention its inevitable what will and then what does happen. The Committee says:
This report can be read as a story of missed opportunities. Missed opportunities to identify and support at risk children. Missed opportunities to have important conversations following the first signs of marginalisation. Missed opportunities to respond effectively when things escalate, and missed opportunities to take decisive action at critical moments.
The Welsh Government says 2,389 children were reported during 2022-23 where child exploitation was a factor. This data can be broken down further to the number of children reported with the following factors in Wales:
- Child Sexual Exploitation: 1,139 children reported
- Child Criminal Exploitation: 1,070 children reported
- Child Trafficking: 180 children reported
The report itself, on page 44, draws on ONS population statistics and Welsh Government data on number of children reported during the year where child exploitation was a factor, by local authority to calculate the rates of affected children per 1,000 of each local authority population.
Who could be at risk?
The Committee found that going missing in and of itself puts young people at risk and is also an risk indicator for exploitation. It discusses a range of groups of children at risk of marginalisation and exploitation, including but not exclusively: care experienced children and young people; children not in an education setting; neurodivergent children and children with learning disabilities; unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people; children with speech, language and communication needs; and those who are homeless or living in temporary accommodation.
The Welsh Government has already issued All-Wales Practice Guidance for Safeguarding young people who go missing from home or care and Safeguarding children from Child Criminal Exploitation. These are both to be used in conjunction with the Wales Safeguarding Procedures. Yet the Committee believes there is more to be done and in respect of criminal exploitation finds exploiters are very quick to adapt their tactics to law enforcement:
One of the most consistent themes that we have identified across our evidence gathering is that the policy response to children who are criminally exploited has not always kept pace with the evolving nature of the exploitation. Exploitative adults move quickly to adapt their coercive tactics to evade safeguarding and criminal justice initiatives.
What next?
On 12 March the Senedd will discuss the Committee's findings about missing and criminally exploited children and debate the Welsh Government’s response. The Committee refers to ‘missed opportunities’ but also concludes:
There are good intentions across the sector, and there are examples of good practice, too. So this report does not call for a revolution in the response to marginalised children. Instead, we are asking professionals to be more aware, more consistent, more focused, to ask more of themselves and of others, and to be held accountable for doing so.
The Welsh Government accepted, or accepted in principle, 21 of the Committee’s 23 recommendations. You can hear the verdict of other Senedd Members during next week’s debate on the afternoon of Wednesday 12 March and you can watch live or play back on Senedd.tv.
Article by Sian Thomas, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
