A six-month study by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) found that cases came to light where agencies worked together to identify the issue, but in many areas this is not happening.
Ceop received a limited response from agencies, especially children’s services and local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs), with only 13 LSCBs responding to the request for information.
The highest response was from police forces, although a significant number of forces reported that they didn't hold any relevant data.
From the information provided, Ceop found that between March 2008 and January 2011 there were 2,379 individuals reported as being possible offenders in relation to street grooming and child sexual exploitation. A total of 2,083 victims of child sexual exploitation were reported for the same period, although true figures are thought to be far higher.
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