Safeguarding on Transport Jane Thompson Research & Policy Manager, Railway Children Eleanor Page Safeguarding Analyst, British Transport Police

A partnership approach First discussions between Railway Children and British Transport Police (BTP) officers about missing children and safeguarding in 2013 Gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee on Security on the Railway in 2014 BTP Safeguarding Unit set up in 2015 Worked together to develop the Safeguarding on Transport programme, launched in 2015

Safeguarding on Transport programme Three key elements: Awareness sessions: increasing transport staff's ability to recognise and respond effectively to vulnerable children and adults Community hubs: stations where stakeholders commit to work together to protect and safeguard vulnerable children and adults Projects: direct work with young people identified by BTP as at risk

British Transport Police Children at Risk Overview 2016 4,406 child concern reports 1,288 runaway or missing children 195 suicide risks or with mental health issues One third of children identified as being at risk had run away from home

Runaway and Missing Children Encounters with BTP 2016 - Locations 1483 children located at: 368 different stations across the UK 77 other locations e.g. crossings, bridges, on track

Manchester Piccadilly St. Pancras International Runaway and Missing Children Encounters with BTP 2016 – Top 10 Locations Manchester Piccadilly Reading 1 95 =5 35 Leeds St. Pancras International =2 46 7 34 Birmingham New Street Euston =2 46 8 33 Glasgow Central Waterloo 4 41 9 26 Victoria Preston =5 35 10 25 Rank Number of children found

Runaway and Missing Children Days and Times of Encounters - 2016 No seasonal trends identified School holidays did not prompt additional instances of runaways/missing children being found using the rail network Interventions occur at all hours seven days a week all year round

Runaway and Missing Children Looked After Children 27% of looked after children found using the rail network in 2016 were placed outside of their Local Authority, 35% of whom had run away to see family members. * Children aged under 18 in England as at 31st March 2016

Runaway and Missing Children Case Studies Home: Care home, Hull Found: Leeds Station Trying to reach: Mother, Southport Found twice in two days attempting this journey

Runaway and Missing Children Child Sexual Exploitation 70% of all children at risk of CSE who were encountered by BTP in 2016 had run away or been reported missing. More than two thirds of these were looked after children.

Runaway and Missing Children Case Studies 16 year old female at risk of CSE Found 13 times to date in 2017 at Manchester Piccadilly after running away from her family home in Salford. Stayed out late and often overnight in the Manchester area and engaged in anti-social behaviour along with other young people from the local area. Disclosed information about her home circumstances to officers. Has since been taken into care and not returned to the railways since

Runaway and Missing Children Circumstances of Interactions Fewer than 10% of missing incidents involved criminal or anti-social behaviour Children were collected by parents/carers 23% of the time, returned by BTP in half of the instances 68% had been reported missing 20% found within 1-3 hours of being reported missing although 25% were missing for more than 24 hours prior to BTP encounter.

Safeguarding on Transport exercise David is looking at some magazines in one of the shops on You see David at the concourse at Birmingham New St station. It’s 3.45pm. He’s wearing school uniform and you recognise it as being from a local secondary school. At 4.40pm you see David again, sitting on a bench in the concourse, using his mobile phone. You get a closer look and estimate his age at around 11 or 12. At 5.45pm you notice David walk past and you watch him for a minute. He’s staring at the floor and seems to be wandering round a bit aimlessly. He’s not looking at the displayed train times. David is sitting on a bench again. He’s slumped forward with his head in his hands. It’s 7.30pm.

‘David’ is a true story David had some learning difficulties and often got into trouble at school and in the community His mum said she couldn’t cope and wanted no contact with him. He lived with his dad, but was angry and upset about not seeing his mum He often ran away straight from school and headed into the city centre When found by BTP at a mainline station he said he felt like harming himself He received ongoing support from one of our partner projects

Next steps for the partnership Continue to generate greater awareness and improve intelligence sharing Lobby for safeguarding activities to be embedded within systems, eg station accreditation Open the first Safeguarding on Transport project on Monday 19th June in North West England (direct work with young people and families, by referral from BTP) Monitor and evaluate the impact of direct work

eleanor.page@btp.pnn.police.uk btp.police.uk j.thompson@railwaychildren.org.uk railwaychildren.org.uk/st