New figures reveal 12,720 children in England were identified by social services as being at risk of criminal exploitation by gangs in 2020/21

New figures reveal 12,720 children in England were identified by social services as being at risk of criminal exploitation by gangs in 2020/21

New figures published this morning by the Department for Education reveal 12,720 children assessed by children's social services in England between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 were deemed to be at risk due to gang involvement. The figures also show there were 16,830 children where child sexual exploitation was a factor during their assessment and 2710 children where trafficking was a factor.

The overall statistics, in the DfE's annual Children in Need data, also reveal a fall in the number of children being referred to social services during the Covid pandemic lockdown. The figures show there was a 31% drop in referrals via schools during the period when schools were closed twice to most children. This suggests some vulnerable children did drop out of the sight of teachers, who are often the first to spot the need for children's social services to assess a child.

The Commission on Young Lives, the independent year-long commission looking at how to develop a national plan to divert vulnerable children away from gangs and serious violence chaired by former Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield, is warning that the number of children referred for gangs is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, with overall referrals falling over the last year during lockdown.

Today's statistics show:

• There were 496,030 episodes of a child being referred to social services in 2020/21 compared to 522,990 in 2019/20, a fall of 5%.
• The number of times a school made a referral to social services fell from 117,010 in pre-Covid 2019/20 to 81,180 in 2020/21 when there were two school lockdowns - a drop of 31%.
• There were 12,720 children identified by children's social services as at risk due to involvement in gangs in 2020/21. This is 13% lower than pre-Covid 2019/20 (14,700) but still 16% higher than 2018/19 (10,960).
• In London, 3500 children were identified as a being at risk as a result of involvement with gangs, while 2650 children were identified as being at risk as a result of child sexual exploitation.
• In the North West, 1750 children were identified as a being at risk as a result of involvement with gangs while 2440 were identified as being at risk as a result of child sexual exploitation.
• In Yorkshire and the Humber, 1090 children were identified as being at risk as a result of involvement with gangs and 1760 as a result of child sexual exploitation.
• In the South East, 1510 children were identified as being at risk as a result of involvement with gangs and 2540 were identified as being at risk as a result of child sexual exploitation.
• In the West Midlands, 1550 children were identified as being at risk as a result of involvement with gangs and 1910 children were identified as being at risk as a result of child sexual exploitation.
• In the East of England, 1170 children were identified as being at risk as a result of involvement with gangs and 1480 were identified as being at risk as a result of child sexual exploitation.

Anne Longfield, Chair of the Commission on Young Lives and former Children's Commissioner for England, responding to the figures, said:

"The number of children being referred to social services because of fears of gang exploitation is extremely troubling and likely only the tip of the iceberg. During a period when the country was in lockdown twice, thousands of vulnerable children were still being sucked into gangs, serious violence and crime or sexually exploited.

"I am particularly worried about the very sharp drop in referrals during the two school lockdowns. Even though schools were open for vulnerable children, many did not attend, and it is very concerning that many have dropped off the radar since.

"We need to ask why we are still losing thousands of marginalised teenagers to the ruthless criminals who are so adept at spotting and exploiting vulnerable children and how we can find better solutions to stop it from happening.

"It is clear these problems are not going to solve themselves and we are still giving too many abusers and exploiters a free pass to use and harm children.

"The systems that are supposed to be there to help vulnerable children are under pressure and badly need reforming. It is time to find new ways of bringing hope and success to young people who fall through the gaps and end up in danger.

"I welcome the announcements of funding for children and families in the Budget. But this needs to be the start of something much bigger to enable all children and young people to be part of this new era, and so that the most vulnerable children are given the same chances to level up as any other child."

ENDS