More Bradford youngsters than ever saved from abuse thanks to trailblazing work

But more youngsters than ever are being saved from abuse, thanks to trailblazing work by police, social workers and health professionals, aimed at giving victims the confidence to report crimes against them.

The Bradford Child Sexual Exploitation 'hub,' which also includes charities and council officials, works round-the-clock to help abused children through the legal process, from first making a complaint to the completion of the court proceedings.

New figures revealed earlier this year that an average of ten sexual crimes against children were reported in Bradford every week, with 627 reports last year and 94 from the start of this year to February 16.

According to Paul Hill, manager of the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board, there are currently 386 children in the district at risk of sexual exploitation. Of those, 37 are at high risk, 172 are at medium risk and 177 at low risk.

Mr Hill emphasised: "It does not mean that 386 children are being sexually abused. It means they are at risk."

He said the nature of the potential abuse is not necessarily sexual, but can be physical or emotional abuse, or neglect. A lot of the abuse can be within the family.

Information comes into the 'hub' daily. In the year from April 2014 to March 2015 there were more than 34,000 'contacts' from people with concerns about a child. These can come from teachers, health workers, school nurses and hospital accident and emergency departments, as well as members of the public. There is a process that is then followed to establish what might raise concern and decide which agency would be best to give support to the child.

Of the 34,000 'contacts,' 5,100 resulted in the local authority providing a service.

Superintendent Vince Firth, in charge of safeguarding children for Bradford District Police, said there were currently 81 live investigations where it was believed a child had been subjected to unlawful sexual activity, and 59 people had been arrested. Some cases were going through the courts, some suspects had been bailed for further inquiries and evidence gathering was continuing in other cases.

Supt Firth said: "Our job is to stop people at the grooming stage, before it becomes unlawful sexual activity with a child."

The multi-agency hub has been operating since 2012. It was based at Eccleshill police station but has recently moved to Bradford city centre, and has 60 staff employed by the police, Council, health service and Barnardos, along with other agencies. Staff work closely together and react quickly to information to make sure there is fast and effective intervention.

The focal point of the 'hub' is the Young People's Room, a bright and informal meeting place which encourages victims to relax. It is the first place they see.

The room is decorated in a combination of light and bright colours, and is in the style of a young person's room, with comfy sofas, a long, low table with a selection of teenager magazines, flatscreen TV, shelves stacked with DVDs and CDs, and a graffiti wall.

Kay Kelly, children's service manager with Barnardo's Turnaround, said a lot of the work with young people at risk took place in the room, building up one-to-one relationships face to face and raising the young people's self esteem.

She said: "It is very young person friendly. They need to feel safe and feel that they belong. It is their room to own. The most important part of our work is to engage with them and consolidate that relationship and trust. You have got to be somewhere where they feel comfortable and safe. This is the first place they see."

Victims are able to use the room as they are waiting to give evidence, rather than at the court building, and the possibility of children being able to give evidence directly from the room by video link is being explored for the future.

Among those who are part of the hub is the Blast Project, which supports boys and young men across Bradford.

Blast manager Phil Mitchell said boys could be stereotyped, with signs of abuse being interpreted as young offender behaviour, but there was an increase in boys being referred.

"We are urging all professionals to think twice. The response should be exactly the same if it is a boy, rather than a girl, displaying warning signs," he said.

Supt Firth said there were three aims - to protect victims, bring perpetrators to justice and make their environment hostile to operate in. He said CSE investigations were very complicated.

"Most victims do not realise they are being exploited. They are reluctant to talk to police and make disclosures. Support from other agencies is key to gain the young people's trust so they will disclose offences."

Paul Hill said there was more awareness nationally because of the scandal at Rotherham, and CSE issues in Rochdale and Oxford.

He said: "We want to turn Bradford into a district of zero tolerance. We are confident we have the services in the district to support children, young people and their families, and will gather evidence against their perpetrators. That is what we are determined will happen.

"There is a great deal of work to protect children, prosecute perpetrators and try to prevent CSE happening in Bradford. We want people to have the confidence that if they have a complaint it will be listened to and dealt with.

"Every time there is a prosecution we hope it will give people confidence to report what is happening to them. Everyone is determined to have accountability for the safety of children in the district."