Rishi Sunak needs to stop ruthless criminals from exploiting children, says Anne Longfield

Leeds-born Ms Longfield has been telling the Government that urgent action and almost £2bn is needed to fix the system that is “completely failing” to protect children, from walks of life, from falling into the clutches of violent drug gangs.

But she believes the Prime Minister must treat this widespread exploitation as “a national threat”, take charge of a strategy to eradicate it and hold monthly COBRA meetings to drive and monitor progress.

“The Government needs to put all of its efforts into a coordinated response,” she said. “That can't happen until we have that leadership from the top.

“We are seeing a complete escalation in the number of young people that are facing harm and services that are completely overwhelmed by demand.

“Until we tackle this and turn that tide, we won’t start to see those numbers dropping.”

It comes after Ms Longfield chaired the Commission on Young Lives, which found children as young as nine are being used to run drugs and commit violent acts, while 14-year-olds are heading up county lines operations.

Overstretched social workers and other safeguarding experts often fail to stop this exploitation, as they respond too slowly and conduct a series of tick-box exercises and multi-agency meetings instead of forming lasting relationships with the children, the commission added.

Government figures show social workers identified 11,600 cases of children becoming involved in gangs in 2021/22 and 16,000 cases of sexual exploitation, but the commission warned these figures “are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg”.

It also highlighted the case of Ben Nelson-Roux, a 16-year-old boy from Knareborough who was forced to sell Class A drugs by county lines dealers, who threatened to cut his fingers off, before he suffered a fatal drug overdose at a homeless hostel for adults in April 2020.

The commission has made a number of recommendations, which include setting up 1,000 new Sure Start Plus Hubs, which offer support to vulnerable teenagers, recruiting “an army” of around 10,000 youth practitioners and investing £1bn in children and young people’s stretched mental health services.

All school buildings should be kept open at weekends and during holidays, with youth practitioners and volunteers on site, to ensure teenagers always have a safe place to go, the commission added.

Ms Longfield said the Government is currently dealing with a wide range of issues, including the cost of living crisis, but the “epidemic” of exploitation must be prioritised.

The Department of Education said it is investing more than £1bn in support services for families, including over £300m for a new network of Family Hubs, and this will help those families stay together, access mental health support and keep their children safe.

It said it is working to educate children about the dangers of exploitation and strengthening ties between social workers and schools, so they can better protect children.