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Safeguarding Children (Sexual Exploitation)

I accept that those are problems in the care system. There is no doubt that as a society we must do a lot better with children in care. Hard decisions must be taken about whether to leave children in abusive situations or put them into care. We must be sure that we are putting them into an improved situation. Much more must be done on that. Many organisations work with vulnerable children, including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, Barnardo's, the UK Human Trafficking Centre, ECPAT UK, UNICEF and the Children's Society. As the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) mentioned, there are statutory bodies and those from the voluntary sector. Sexual exploitation is all around us, as was clear from the recent arrest of a nursery worker in Plymouth, which astounded most people. At the weekend, we heard of primary school head teachers who had not done Criminal Records Bureau checks on staff. Some years ago, I took part in the police parliamentary scheme and spent time with what was then called the child protection unit and the vice squad. Sadly, I learned of things that were happening to children that I had not imagined. I was also involved in the Home Secretary's task force for protecting children on the internet until it changed to its new format, which was when CEOP was set up. I commend CEOP's work, but I have been concerned to read about possible shortcomings in funding. We worked hard to set up that organisation, we examined experience in the United States before doing so, and it has strong support across the board. Will the Minister assure us that it will not be constrained in its vital and successful work because of a lack of funding? The issues are prevention, identification of young people at risk, effective intervention at an early stage with avoidance of a crisis response, vital support as we pick up the pieces, prosecutions and convictions. Barnardo's defined sexual exploitation as:""Any involvement of a child or a young person below 18 in a sexual activity for which remuneration of cash or in kind is given to the child or young person or a third party or person. The perpetrator will have power over the child by virtue of one or more of the following: age, emotional maturity, gender, physical strength and intellect"," and perhaps if a child is lost in a strange country. Barnardo's operates on the principle that no child can consent to their own abuse, so children and young people under 18 who are abused by sexual exploitation are victims. An important point was raised about criminalisation of victims, and I hope that the Minister will reply to that. Adults involved in sexual exploitation are child abusers. As the hon. Member for Totnes said, Government figures suggest that around 330 children and young people are trafficked in the UK each year, although that is likely to be an underestimate. Problems continue to arise from the identification of child victims, which remains very low. We must make it a priority to increase identification. Authorities have not developed adequate procedures and guidelines to improve detection, and there is a general lack of awareness about child trafficking and its indicators among practitioners who come into daily contact with victims from abroad. Some non-governmental organisations and other campaigners are worried that the immigration age assessment dispute process is used to divert young people into the adult system rather than to safeguard them. That is important, because there is much anecdotal evidence and many examples of disputes when someone is said to be under 18 but the judgment is swayed on the side of them being over 18. I do not know what criteria are used, but the issue is important because of what subsequently happens to those children and young people.