THURROCK Council says it is tagging children at risk of being trafficked and exploited by drug and county line gangs reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
The council is electronically tracking youngsters at risk of criminal exploitation with tags and says is helping to cut incidents.
A missing children report to Thurrock’s corporate parenting committee said: “We are beginning to see a slight rise on the number of young people going missing who we believe are being trafficked and exploited via county lines.
“We have had a few young people agree to wearing a tag and so their movements can be tracked, and their missing episodes have stopped. Disruption techniques have been used to break up a small group of young people of concern.”
When a child is assessed as being at risk or vulnerable a “child exploitation badge” (CE Badge) is logged in the system.
As of November there were 23 young people in Thurrock that have CE Badges. Of those eight are currently looked after. This means 34.7 per cent of young people identified assessed as being vulnerable to being exploited are currently looked after by the borough.
Young people with current CE Badges will fall under either child criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation or both but there currently none in Thurrock under both risks.
“Missing episodes” for looked after children are reported when a child fails to return at the correct time. Several missing episodes can be recorded against one child. Children are reported as “missing” if care givers don’t know where the child is.
The report shows a drop in the number of children under 18 reported missing. From July to October 2023 there were 92 missing episodes and 20 missing children. From July to October 2024 there were 63 missing episodes and 18 children reported missing. There were three unaccompanied asylum seeking children logged as missing in the latter quarter.
When a child is assessed as being at risk or vulnerable a “child exploitation badge” (CE Badge) is logged in the system.
As of November there were 23 young people in Thurrock that have CE Badges. Of those eight are currently looked after. This means 34.7 per cent of young people identified assessed as being vulnerable to being exploited are currently looked after by the borough.
Young people with current CE Badges will fall under either child criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation or both.
The council conducts Return Home Interviews (RHI) to try to understand why a child has gone missing and reduce incidents. Since 2023 the council has taken this process in house.
The report said: “There has been an emphasis on building positive relationships with our young people who persistently go missing and previously would decline the RHI’s offered to them, to ensure they are provided with the opportunity to share their experiences in relation to their missing episode and receive support and intervention as required.”
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