Rotherham chief Ian Thomas to discuss his plans to tackle CSE

Thomas will share his vision of building a “culture of learning and support” at the South Yorkshire borough council and forging strong partnerships with local agencies. The investigation by Professor Alexis Jay estimated that around 1,400 young people had been subjected to sexual exploitation in the town over a 16-year period.

The one-day conference, Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Multi-Agency Child-Centred Practice, takes place on Wednesday 25 March at Maple House in the centre of Birmingham.

Thomas stepped into the role in Rotherham at the start of this year following the resignation of Joyce Thacker, and was previously children’s services chief in Derbyshire.  

Carlene Firmin, head of the MsUnderstood Partnership and research fellow at the University of Bedfordshire, will provide an overview of CSE at the conference for professionals, and present the “core components to building an effective response”.

Delegates will also hear a number of case studies of emerging good practice from across the country involving partnerships with health services, police, the voluntary and community sector, and local communities.

Oxfordshire’s Kingfisher team, Project Phoenix in Greater Manchester, the Rochdale Sunrise team and the Empower Project from Safer London Foundation, are all confirmed to speak.

In addition, Stoke City Council will share its approach to tracking and supporting children who go missing from home or care, and the links between children who go missing, and sexual exploitation. Wendy Shepherd, national implementation manager for CSE at Barnardo’s will discuss the work of its SECOS (Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Streets) project in Middlesbrough.

There will also be sessions from the NSPCC’s head of child safety online Claire Lilley on understanding and responding to online risks posed through chatrooms, social networking websites and ‘sexting’; and Research in Practice director Dez Holmes, who will question the effectiveness of the current child protection system in dealing with CSE.

Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace) will discuss how professionals can engage with parents to safeguard their children and help bring perpetrators to justice.

The conference is aimed at all professionals in local authorities and the voluntary sector who have an interest in preventing and safeguarding young people from abuse and exploitation.

You can take advantage of the discount rates for the conference by reserving your place before 27 February.

All the details for the conference can be found at www.cse-conference.com