Online questionnaire to help council with review into child sexual exploitation

The questionnaires are being carried out by Telford & Wrekin Council’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee and are aimed at victims and survivors of exploitation, their parents/carers and their families.

They aim to find out what help they accessed, which organisations were supportive, what their experience of the judicial process was and what support they have received since.

Councillor Kevin Guy, the chairman of the committee, has also made a short video for the council’s social media channels where he explains what the questionnaires aim to achieve and how people can access them.

Councillor Guy said: “The review is at a crucial stage at the moment and we are very keen to hear from anyone affected by this who we haven’t yet spoken to.

“We realise it is a very distressing subject to address and this is why we are giving people the option of contacting us through our website. The more information we can gather about what people’s experience of this crime was the more useful and constructive the review will ultimately be.

“The review is looking at how well organisations in Telford and Wrekin are working together to prevent child sexual exploitation and to protect and support victims.

“We met with 16 different organisations earlier this year to hear how they are working to tackle this issue and we are now gathering evidence from local people affected by CSE during the next couple of months. We aim to publish the review in May next year.

“Obviously if anyone is aware of a child that might be at immediate risk of child sexual exploitation they should call the police in the first instance. Our Family Connect service is also there for them to discuss any further concerns and can be contacted on 01952 385385.”

The questionnaires is live at www.telford.gov.uk/scrutinyreviewofcse