The Scottish Government welcomes the reports, Criminally Exploited Children: Shattered Lives, Stolen Futures and I Don’t Want to go Down That Road, from Action for Children. We agree that criminally exploited children and young people are victims of child abuse and must be cared for and supported within the context of Scotland’s approach to child protection, as set out in the National Child Protection Guidance in Scotland 2021, updated 2023 and Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC). We have engaged closely with Action for Children on the findings and recommendations of the reports. This engagement has included discussion at the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce (SOCT) which includes Action for Children in its membership. We are drawing on the Taskforce’s collective expertise and the expertise of other stakeholders in developing our programme of work to prevent and disrupt this abhorrent abuse of children and young people. As discussed with the SOCT in October 2024, we are currently identifying actions to be taken forward by Government and partners which will be shared with the Taskforce ahead of its meeting in February 2025.
In considering these reports and next steps, the Scottish Government has engaged key stakeholders and partners, including the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration, Social Work Scotland, British Transport Police, Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Education Scotland to inform opportunities to enhance our shared approach to CCE in Scotland. Discussions are also being taken forward with health sector stakeholders.
The Scottish Government has also collaborated with operational and third-sector partners to support the establishment and delivery of the devolved decision-making pilot related to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in Glasgow, which has been operational since 2021. This included publishing practitioner guidance. We will continue to engage with the Home Office and other partners to promote the benefits of the devolved NRM approach going forward.
We note that a number of the recommendations made by these reports are already implemented and indeed are informed by our approach in Scotland. This includes incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), delivery of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians service through the statutory Guardianship Scotland service, and the presence of the Lord Advocate’s instructions for non-prosecution of victims of human trafficking.
Further work is underway with partners to explore the effectiveness of relevant existing legislation including the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, and the barriers and opportunities to support more effective information sharing practices between the statutory and non-statutory partners. We are also engaging with the UK Government regularly as it considers introduction of new legislation on CCE and will assess these proposals when they are available, as well as continuing discussions with other UK administrations on this issue. My officials meet with their counterparts in UKG on a fortnightly basis to discuss the CCE legislation.
This work builds on the existing legislation and guidance frameworks relating to CCE in Scotland. The Lord Advocate instructions in relation to the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 on the non-prosecution of victims of human trafficking and exploitation were revised in January 2024 to highlight the increase of criminal exploitation in recent years and further guidance on this issue for practitioners. This guidance notes that Prosecutors must have regard to the UNCRC when taking decisions that directly or indirectly affect children, and that in particular, the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration, in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention, and be given appropriate weight, along with other relevant considerations regarding proceedings. The guidance underlines that prosecutors must consider whether a child is the victim of human trafficking or exploitation upon receipt of every Police Report involving a child to establish early identification of victims.
Furthermore, there has been noteworthy progress in Scotland in recent years in relation to guidance, awareness raising and training for professionals to improve the reporting and detection of the exploitation of children. Scottish Government published Practitioner Guidance on Criminal Exploitation on behalf of the SOCT in June 2023. The guidance aims to create a shared understanding of criminal exploitation of children and adults, and help practitioners identify those at risk from serious organised crime. A SOCT Criminal Exploitation Awareness Raising event took place in June 2024 to raise awareness of this Guidance with practitioners and leaders across various sectors and to promote multi-agency working between organisations. Education Scotland has also developed a professional learning package for local authority strategic safeguarding leads based on the Practitioner Guidance. Action for Children and Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice are currently developing a framework to improve practice in identification and response to criminal exploitation with the help of dedicated Keep the Promise Funding.
In partnership with Police Scotland, the charity I Am Me has developed the ‘You Are Not Alone’ child exploitation resource and is currently developing resources for young people in Secure Care accommodation and HMP & YOI Polmont. The resources aim to raise awareness of exploitation, the risks of being exploited and d where to get help when they need it, whilst helping practitioners identify areas for concern.
Additionally, the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, updated in 2023, clarifies that an Inter-agency Referral Discussion - the start of the formal process of information sharing, assessment and decision-making following reported concern about abuse or neglect of a child or young person - should be held in all cases of concerns about child exploitation. The Scottish Government is currently working with partners to develop a national IRD training offer to improve the quality and consistency of IRD practice across the country.
Turning next to dedicated funding for projects that support young people who have been criminally exploited or are at risk of criminal exploitation. The SOCT Community Grant Scheme provided funding to the following charities:
- Action for Children received £9,987 for work through their Highland support service to develop the local workforce and partnership working to divert young people away from serious organised crime and support them into positive destinations.
- The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, in partnership with Police Scotland, received £9,426 to provide a Drugs Education pilot project in Grampian schools.. The pilot aimed to educate young people on drug use, reduce the demand for drugs, and through workshops and education, prevent young people from becoming involved in SOC either through their own drug use, supply of others, or county lines and involvement in an organised crime group (OCG). Workshops for parents were also arranged to increase their own awareness, build protective factors and resilience in their children at home, and gain a better understanding of their role in equipping their children to manage the risks of involvement with drugs safely, and to know where they could receive support.
- G20 and Street Cones received £10,000 for a project to engage with a selected group (8-10 youths, ages ranging from 12-16), who were involved in lower-level drug dealing, serious assault and robberies which made them vulnerable to being exploited by OCGs. The project used the medium of film production to challenge young people’s beliefs and perceptions of authority whilst giving them confidence and sense of worth where they were involved in writing, directing and recording of the film. On completion of the project, the film was premiered with friends and family of the young people involved. The project also aimed to break down the barriers between the police and the local young people. It was noted that for some participants, it resulted in a shift of perspective in the relationship with the Police.
The Scottish Government has also provided Action for Children with £1.05 million over financial years 22/23 to 25/26 for their SOC Early Intervention Service in Inverclyde. The project is funded through the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund and has been developed to support young people who have been criminally exploited. The funding will support approximately 100 young people and their families each year providing targeted intensive one to one provision, focusing on risk reduction, group work, peer mentoring and diversionary activities.
In addition, through the ‘CashBack for Communities’ programme the Scottish Government is providing funding of £453,218 over three years (2023-2026) to Barnardo’s to support the Anchor Highland project. The Anchor is a community-based hub with a targeted, assertive outreach/response team focusing on individuals subjected to or at risk of exploitation.
Further linked policy development work is underway on child exploitation issues. This includes the refresh of Scottish Government’s Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy, which is expected to be published in early 2025, and the establishment of a new National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategy Group, which brings together operational partners and other expert stakeholders, including Action for Children, to review current actions and agree where additional focus is needed to better protect children from abuse and exploitation, including CCE.
Turning lastly to monitoring of the trends, techniques and approaches used by organised criminal gangs to exploit children criminally and the measures being taken to respond to these and any emerging threats. The Scottish Crime Campus produce the Scottish Multi-Agency Strategic Threat Assessment (SMASTA), a report that presents a comprehensive picture of the scale and nature of SOC threats, identifies vulnerabilities, and sets strategic priorities to inform operational work and decision-making. The SOCT uses the SMASTA to identify the key threats and put our response to those threats at the centre of the work undertaken by SOCT members and partners. A public facing version of the SMASTA was published by Police Scotland in October 2022. The full document is compiled from live intelligence and is therefore for law enforcement and partners, only.
There is also the Multi-Agency Tasking and Delivery Board (MATDB), which is Chaired by Police Scotland and comprises a number of bodies, including the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and other law enforcement partners, which meets regularly to share intelligence on new and emerging threats. The MATDB plays a major role in delivering the Detect and Disrupt Strands of the SOC Strategy. Work to target the perpetrators of criminal exploitation is an operational matter for law enforcement partners.
