Takeaway staff in Swindon to get child exploitation training

Members of Swindon Borough Council’s children’s health, care and education overview committee were told a new project of the joint police and council child safeguarding team will begin in the new year.

Operation Makesafe will offer training and guidance to businesses to identify and respond to any potential risk to children.

Manager of the council's child exploitation team Jeanette Chipping said: “We’re looking at fast food outlets, helping businesses with a role to play in preventing exploitation.

“The work will be part of the common approach we’re taking to exploitation.”

She told the committee that exploitation consisted of both sexual and criminal exploitation – where children are used by criminals to take part in illegal activities, often dealing drugs.

She said: “That’s often forgotten, but it is an important part of the work.”

She warned the committee criminals involved in exploiting children – such as County Lines gangs – often have sophisticated methods.

Ms Chipping revealed cases of both sexual and criminal exploitation have been dropping in Swindon over the last two years.

In cases of sexual exploitation, for April to September 2018 the numbers of cases open ranged from 43 in April to 49 in September, with a peak of 52 in July.

For the same six months in 2019 the figures were nearly halved, with a high of 27 at the end of April and May. This year they dropped from 17 in April and May to 13 in June and July and 14 in August and September.

The figures for criminal exploitation also show a drop. There was a high of 44 cases open at the end of August 2018, cut to 36 a year later and down to 27 at the end of August 2020.

Taxi drivers in Swindon have been given training on how to recognise if child passengers are at risk of exploitation, and a new initiative has begun in Wiltshire for cabbies and bus drivers to recognise possible danger signs.