Friday brief: More than 40 modern slavery cases involving Northamptonshire children reported in the latest year
Plus more news from the county
Northamptonshire Police says 43 children have been reported as being exploited as modern day slavery victims in the latest financial year (until April).
The force has released the figures as part of a campaign launched by the county’s child safeguarding partnership yesterday to raise awareness of criminal exploitation of children, which is increasing.
The 43 children were reported to the national referral mechanism system, which is a national framework for identifying and reporting victims of modern slavery.
This is a rise of 95 per cent on the previous year.
The force said:
“This increase is recognised as a good thing as it demonstrates that we are safeguarding more exploited children.”
In the 12 months to June this year 357 offences of child sexual exploitation occurred in the county.
A short film has been produced to help parents and adults spot the signs of when a child may be being exploited.
Chair of the Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Jenny Coles, said: “Across the UK the issue of Child Exploitation is considered to be a growing child protection concern - it’s important that we highlight this to parents so they can be on the look-out for the signs, some of which are shown in the film.
“We need to work together across the partnership and with parents, to put an end to this type of abuse. It is important to understand that young people who are caught up in this type of activity often do not see themselves as victims, as those who are exploiting them make them feel important, respected and looked after.
“Most children are safe and won’t be criminally or sexually exploited but we can’t ignore that child exploitation is happening here in Northamptonshire and is increasing. This new film gives us the opportunity to raise awareness to parents that this could happen to their child, to think about the signs, and to know that help is available.”
Detective Chief Inspector Jen Castle, the Northamptonshire Police lead for Child Safeguarding said:
“The police and our partners in the NSCP want to do all we can to help children and young people escape exploitation. Any child can be targeted for exploitation, whoever they are, wherever they live. In towns, villages and on social media.
“Exploiters are manipulators. They groom children and young people, make them feel special, befriend them, and gain their trust, sometimes buying them gifts or treats. Often the children themselves don’t realise they are a victim of exploitation until they are in too deep, or they may feel ashamed, embarrassed, or too afraid to tell anyone what’s happening. They may feel things have spiralled out of control, or they could have drug debts, or threatened with violence, keeping them bonded to their abuser. We want to safeguard them and lead them towards getting help and support.
“We want to encourage parents and others to watch the film and consider if a child’s change in behaviour could be due to adults criminally or sexually exploiting them. If something doesn’t feel right, it might not be. If any parents are concerned that their child is being exploited please report your concerns.”
People can contact the police on 1010, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or the NSPCC 0808 800 5000 if they know a child who they think is being criminally exploited.
News in brief:
The leader of the Labour opposition group on North Northamptonshire Council Cllr Matt Keane was absent again from the executive meeting yesterday.
Cllr Keane was elected to the position by his fellow Labour councillors in May, but so far has been a background figure and has not been attending the regular executive meetings.
As leader of the opposition it is his primary role to challenge and scrutinise the ruling executive and the decisions it makes.
Cllr Keane has a full time job alongside his opposition leader role and receives an allowance from the council of £10,175 to lead his group, on top of his £14,000 basic allowance. A councillor’s allowance is provided in part to cover any time lost from employment in order to attend meetings.
NN Journal tried to contact Cllr Keane a number of times yesterday to ask why he was absent and he did not answer.
In contrast the Labour opposition leader on the West unitary authority Wendy Randall is present and active at most meetings held by the cabinet.
The North unitary council has a sizeable Conservative majority, with 55 members. There are 16* Labour councillors, three Green Party councillors, three Independents and one Liberal Democrat.
The council chamber was pretty sparse with only a handful of attendees, with Labour councillors Lyn Buckingham, Ross Armour and Anne Lee and Tory Dorothy Maxwell the only backbench councillors to ask questions.
The leader of the Green Party group, Cllr Emily Fedorwycz was also not at the meeting and has not attended any executives. She is also the mayor of Kettering and said that yesterday she had a mayoral engagement that prevented her from attending and said work commitments and the 10am timings of the meetings were preventing her fellow Green Party members from attending.
Westminster watch
Wellingborough MP Peter Bone raised the problem of a Rushden fly infestation in parliament yesterday.
He said the issue had been brought to his attention by two councillors from the Rushden area concerning the insect issue in the Pemberton area of the town.
He said: “I’ve surveyed the whole area and sure enough there is a problem.”
He said his researcher had plotted the problem and he then named the Sander Lodge industrial estate.
Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt said she would make sure the secretary of state for levelling up Michael Gove was made aware of the concerns.
NN Events
📚 Kettering’s first ever Festival of Literature takes place this Saturday. There is a packed itinerary of free events including talks by local authors and workshops for childrens. Read more about the venues and timings here.
🎶 The music of Hans Zimmer will be performed by candlelight at Northampton Museum in Guildhall Road tomorrow from 7.30pm.
📢 The new Brackley Community Museum opens tomorrow at Brackley library in Manor Road with a permanent display of the areas historical artefacts.
*An earlier version said there were 14 Labour members instead of 16.
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To be fair by the time items get to the Executive (and possibly before) there is no chance of changing the decisions presented on the agenda. It feels like “tick box” process … “did we (the Executive) meet our responsibility under the right to speak?” … “Yes” … “did we (The Executive) change anything substantial as a result of fellow Councillors or members of the community taking time to come and speak?” … “No” … well as far as I can remember virtually never … An indicator is that I can never remember any Executive member voting against any item with everything being voted through unanimously at every meeting … I can’t remember seeing an additional recommendation being added or an existing one being removed as the result of the “debate” at an Executive Meeting … most Executive members start with the words “I welcome this report” and I feel proceed to indulge in self congratulation. There is no visible scrutiny amongst the members even to just to give those watching the feeling that there are robust debates and arguments behind the scenes before all agree without questioning in public. Just my observations. PS one one occasion when I went to raise the issue of the closure of Ketteting Leisure Village the leader’s response was to try to stop me using my three minutes and when I didn’t, asking if I could be removed from the meeting … scrutiny and passion not welcome?