Agenda item

1.            The Chairman welcomed Mark Pearson, Chief Executive Officer, Excelsior Safeguarding C.I.C to the meeting.  Excelsior Safeguarding was a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation established to provide effective help and support to vulnerable young people and adults affected by group violence, drugs and other forms of criminal exploitation.

2.            Mr Pearson delivered a presentation to the Select Committee which is available to view online via this link.

3.            Mr Pearson explained that it was not possible to separate the criminal exploitation issues such as exploitation by organised gangs to deal drugs, sexual exploitation and extremism which can co-exist and that knife crime was a key component. 

4.            Mr Pearson explained County Lines to Members, the pattern for Kent was the same as the rest of the country, and the key element was knife crime, often including initiation which could be to harm an innocent person to gain credibility within the gang. 

5.            Referring to Cuckooing, which was where a gang took over the address of a vulnerable family or vulnerable adult, this process often resulted in young people being exposed to traumatic situations. 

6.            Excelsior Safeguarding had received funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Kent County Council (KCC) Members and District Councils to deliver resilience building training and support for young people in schools.  This training had been and continued to be delivered in Swale, Thanet, Ashford, Maidstone and Folkestone & Hythe. 

7.            Mr Pearson has concerns about Drill music, that glorified violence and encouraged gangs to keep stab and kill tallies.  He considered that this impacted young people who were particularly vulnerable such as those with ADHD and ASD. 

8.            Members discussed the use of video games and the percentages of children in years 5-6 that were regularly playing violent video games in the evening. 

9.            A member asked Mr Pearson what he would say to academics who pointed to childhood trauma as an indicator rather than music and video games as motivational factors.  Mr Pearson agreed it was a multifaceted problem, he commented that young children playing violent video games could be considered to be tomorrows Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).  He agreed that drill music was only one element of the problem but if it encouraged young people to stab, maim and kill then in time that would have an impact.  Particularly on young children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or Looked After Children (LAC) who were more vulnerable and potentially more controllable.   Members discussed the link between poverty, deprivation, knife crime and criminal exploitation.  Mr Pearson considered that this combination of factors, environmental factors, music, video games, and being in a deprived area resulted in a higher risk to gang exposure.  Having said that Mr Pearson commented that gangs had been successful in recruiting both grammar school and private school pupils. 

10.         A Member commented on primary schools and evidence that giving information to pupils outside of their comfortable safe environment might be more effective.   Mr Pearson explained that it was important to build resilience in children from 5 years upwards and a lot of learning had been taken from the US; Excelsior worked in close liaison with best practice program managers in the US. 

11.         The Chairman asked what more KCC could do, Mr Pearson commented that KCC was in a strong position as a commissioner.  It was important to consider, when inviting bids to provide services, that there should be an element setting out what each group could do to complement each other to build a more effective integrated service.

12.         Mr Pearson considered that a focus on early intervention was key, the Police were doing their best to tackle the effects, but it was challenging for them to address the root causes without joint support from others.  The concentration of joint services in deprived areas was very important in this respect.  Smart early intervention and integration of services was critical. 

13.         The Chairman concluded the session by offering the Committees thanks to Mr Pearson for attending the Select Committee.  The Chairman hoped that he had been able to cover everything he wanted to, but if there was any further information Mr Pearson wanted the Select Committee to consider he was welcome to forward it.