Risk of 'child sex exploitation - CSE' and 'Child Criminal Exploitation - CCE' - Find a freedom of information request

Please provide, from 2015-2024:

1. For each year in the period, how many people have been considered to be at risk of 'child sex exploitation - CSE' and 'Child Criminal Exploitation - CCE' - please provide an age breakdown if available. If providing a breakdown by age for each year would risk identifying individuals, then please instead provide an age breakdown for the entire period.

2. For each year in the period, How many people have been considered to be involved in 'child sex exploitation - CSE' and 'Child Criminal Exploitation - CCE'- please provide an age breakdown if available. If providing a breakdown by age for each year would risk identifying individuals, then please instead provide an age breakdown for the entire period.

3. For each year in the period, how many calls were recorded to the MASH helpline

* For each year in the period, how many cases of those recorded at risk of exploitation were investigated by the council

4. For each year in the period, how many cases of those recorded to be involved in exploitation were investigated by the council

5. Please provide an annual breakdown of the council budget set aside to tackling Child Sex Exploitation

If data for the entire period requested is not available, please instead provide it from the earliest date available up until the most recent at the point of production.
 

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you.

*Please note that the parameters of our data will not necessarily match the requests due to how our child exploitation processes work, as an example together with discussion children we will also discuss locations and people of concern within our MACE level 2 meetings (detailed below), who will not feature in this data request, which would increase the numbers significantly.

1. Our MACE (Multi Agency Child Exploitation) pathways enable professionals within Lincolnshire to share any concerns about potential exploitation (both criminal and exploitation) via completion of a Child Exploitation Screening tool. All completed screening tools are discussed at a multi-agency decision making panel (MACE Level 1) .

The purpose of the panel is to determine if progression to MACE level 2 is required to action disruption tactics across the partnership.

The table attached details referrals received to level 1 MACE indicating that a professional has potentially identified CE concerns.

There was a change of process at the end of 2022, where we started to record all cases separately, which in turn increased numbers.

Prior to this the number of CE screening tools were recorded and did not separate information within them which may have related to other potential victims, people of concern or locations of concern.

All of this information is now recorded separately which accounts for the increase in numbers.

2. Within the MACE Level 1 and Level 2 meetings the Panel decide whether there is an indication child criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation, both or neither. 

Please find attached tables

3. In Lincolnshire, we do not operate as a MASH. Any identified needs regarding Child Exploitation (CE) are addressed with the appropriate level of intervention based on the specific need. Safeguarding concerns related to CE are assessed by our Social Care Teams.

The duty to investigate sits with Lincolnshire Police. Through MACE we do not ‘investigate’ but work with partners to ‘disrupt’ child exploitation.

We do not hold data relating to police investigations. Those cases where there were identified indicators of potential exploitation are discussed at MACE Level 1 (Please see data within Q1)

4. The attached data relates to those that were screened at MACEL Level 1 with the outcome being that there were identified exploitation concerns warranting further discussion at MACE Level 2

Should you require the attachments mentioned above please contact customerinformationservice@lincolnshire.gov.uk with the below reference number and these can be provided.