Government response to Office of the Children’s Commissioner report

Responding to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner report, a Government spokesperson said:

"Schools and colleges have remained open throughout the pandemic to vulnerable children and those of critical workers, and we have worked across Government and with the sector to make sure young people stay safe at this time.

"Ahead of a full return to school and college in September, we are expanding frontline charity support and helplines to reach more young people, working with local authorities and schools to ensure they have 'eyes and ears' on those at most risk, and supporting pupils leaving Alternative Provision this summer to stay engaged in education, employment or training. We are also investing £100 million in remote education, including devices and routers that help these children keep in contact with schools and social workers.

"This summer, schools and other out of schools settings will also be able to run holiday clubs and we have worked with the National Citizenship Service who will be running programs of activities for teenagers across the country.”

Further information

• The Prime Minister hosted the Hidden Harms Summit on May 21 to drive the response to hidden crimes, including the abuse of vulnerable children. This set out clear actions for all those involved in protecting young people - government, charities, police forces and social workers.
• We are also looking at how to support the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children in the longer term, including expanding the number of social workers placed in schools to help teachers identify those children at risk.
• We have brought back thousands of social workers onto a temporary register.
• The PM has confirmed from 4 July providers running holiday clubs and activities for children and young people over the summer holiday will be able to open under eased lockdown measures
• We recently announced bespoke package of support for each year 11 currently in AP to help them engage them in further education, employment or training through the next year.
• We are also looking at how to support the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children in the longer term, including expanding the number of social workers placed in schools to help teachers identify those children at risk.
• We have provided £7m to the See, Hear, Respond service led by Barnardo’s, as well as online and face to face support, this includes youth work and crisis support particularly for those at risk of or experiencing various forms of exploitation, including criminal exploitation.
• DfE and HO launched the joint £7.6m Vulnerable Children National Charities Strategic Relief Fund in order to support VCSE organisations with an annual income above £40m who are in financial distress as a result of COVID-19 and who are working to safeguard vulnerable children. We hope to make awards later this month.
• We have reflected extra-familial harms to children, including CSE and criminal exploitation, in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ statutory guidance to support practitioners in preventing children from being criminally exploited.
• We are funding a £2m Tackling Child Exploitation support programme (TCESP) to help safeguarding partners in local areas tackle extra-familial harms, like child sexual and criminal exploitation.
• The Government is investing £25 million towards tackling county lines, including funding for law enforcement activity, expanding the National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) and expanding support for victims of county lines exploitation.
• We have also invested £70 million into local, multi-agency Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) to identify the drivers of violent crime and develop bespoke solutions. All VRUs work with local educational providers to prevent children being drawn towards serious violence.