Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed external witnesses Amanda Read (UK Border Agency) and Detective Inspector Gordon Valentine (MET Police), and Richard Nash (Children and Families, Service Manager).

Mr Nash began his presentation by stating:

·        in 2006/7 a significant number of young people went missing, a large proportion of who were from a Chinese background. This was largely due to an uncoordinated approach from the multi-agencies involved in the process of safeguarding at the port of entry; UKBA, Met Police and LBH.

·        Majority of children and young people who arrive at Heathrow without their parents produce either no papers or papers that were found to be false at passport control.

•        Adult facilitators and traffickers organise this illegal entry. Children and young people have little control or knowledge over their fate. UKBA estimate it costs £7-10k per person.

•        Those most at risk were ‘hidden’ within those arriving to genuinely claim asylum or be re-united with family.

•        The challenge in safeguarding at a Port of Entry is the lack of concrete information.

•        From October 2008 24 hour dedicated service for assessing children and young people arriving at Heathrow.

•        Joint assessments with UKBA staff. Improved information sharing.

•        Protection plan for each child including limiting communication and close supervision.

•        Development of a trafficking leaflet in 10 languages.

•        Multi-agency operational protocol with partners.

•        Fortnightly operational meetings that discuss each and every new arrival.

•        CASE EXAMPLE: During the latter part of 2008 a major break through occurred when a Chinese female who had previously absconded from our care returned. She had been held against her will and prostituted. She assisted in delivering key messages to new arrivals about what may happen to them should they abscond. This together with arrests made outside of the UK by UKBA significantly disrupted the trafficking of Chinese nationals through Heathrow.

•        2006/07 251 arrivals of which 28% (70) went missing

•        2007/08 221 arrivals of which 24% (54) went missing

•        2008/09 160 arrivals of which 13% (20) went missing

•        2009 to date 184 arrivals of which 4% (7) have gone missing.

•        Timely, 24 hour response and joint assessment with other agencies.

•        Protection Plans that reflect the potential risk highlighted in the Time Line.

•        Engaging with the subject immediately

•        Delivering 2 key messages to children and young people; you were very likely to be at risk if you follow the instructions you have been given before arrival and you were safe in our care.

•        The increased skills and awareness of all staff.

•        The majority of the 24 hour response relies on volunteers from the day-time staff.

•        Safeguarding at Heathrow attracts national attention and can threaten the council’s reputation. Currently there is no dedicated lead officer as no such post exists.

•        Those cases that were not resolved within 2 weeks and were not USAC (currently just less than 50% of arrivals were USAC) have to be absorbed by social work teams and no extra resources were provided.

DI Valentine informed the Committee that the Paladin team at Heathrow was a joint unit of Metropolitan Police Officers and UK Border Agency staff with immigration backgrounds and their remit is to deal with all cases involving vulnerable children. These ranged from referrals from the front line, where there were child protection concerns to major criminal investigations involving child trafficking across borders.

The Paladin Team was the largest Child Abuse Investigatory Group in the world. The team worked closely with the Social Services teams in London Boroughs. Along with tackling child trafficking, the Paladin Team investigated child murders and child abuse. The biggest strength of the Paladin team was the number of police officers and UKBA officers involved in the team. The Paladin team also engaged outside bodies such as NSPCC, London Borough of Hillingdon and ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers). ACPO investigated child trafficking with the help of other crime agencies.

In 2003, the Paladin Team provided the Home Office with 26 recommendations that, if adopted, would help tackle the problem of child trafficking. Every recommendation was agreed and put into practice.

DI Valentine said the most effective way to tackle child trafficking would be by using a multi-agency response. The excellent communication links that had been created in the last few years had led to a significant reduction in the number of children going missing from the Heathrow Port of Entry.

Amanda Read acted as the Head of Operations at Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Ms Read said most of her work involved raising staff awareness of the problem of child trafficking and ensuring staff were confident enough to cope in a situation where suspected traffickers were confronted. The work of her staff involved stopping any unaccompanied child under the age of 18, making enquiries to determine the reason of visit of the child and interviewing the child in a comfortable and suitable environment.

A visit by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair to T5 allowed Ms Read’s team to highlight the problem of child trafficking with the PM. Following his visit, an “unaccompanied by” visa was launched to be used by all children under the age of 18 and must state who the child was travelling with. Following this introduction, the number of children travelling alone reduced significantly.

Ms Read informed Members that the UKBA worked closely with airlines and airports that referred any suspicious behaviour to the UKBA.

The Chairman thanked all witnesses and opened the floor to questions from Members.

Members enquired whether the aim of the Children and Families team was to tackle child trafficking or to safeguard the trafficked children. Mr Nash informed the Committee that both were top priorities for his team. After a child was referred by the UKBA to LBH it was Mr Nash’s team’s priority to ensure the safety of that child. The team also assisted agencies in preventing child trafficking by attending regular meetings and sub-groups.

Witnesses informed the Committee that the Port of Origin was not important when protecting a trafficked child. A child coming in from the far east was treated in the same way as a child coming in from the EU would be treated.

Members aired their concerns over tacking the problem of child trafficking in LBH only to displace the problem to another area. Witnesses informed the Committee that they regularly met with officers from other boroughs and regularly held meetings with multi-agencies not only located in LBH. This ensured that the problem was tackled laterally.

Witnesses commended the communications links that had been established between multi-agencies, councils and the police. Without these links, witnesses said they would not be able to tackle the problem of child trafficking. Witnesses also commended the work of social workers involved with safeguarding children.