CYPM15 Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (Dyfed-Powys) (OPCC)

Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament

Y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Children, Young People and Education Committee

Plant a phobl ifanc sydd ar yr ymylon | Children and Young People on the margins

Ymateb gan Swyddfa’r Comisiynydd Heddlu a Throseddu (Dyfed-Powys)| Evidence from Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (Dyfed-Powys) (OPCC)

Please set out any views on missing children below.

You may wish to consider:

§ Nature and scale of the issue and regional variations.

§ At risk groups: including the impact of care experience and out of area placements.

§ Practice: issues such as information sharing and data collection.

§ Policy: the effectiveness of devolved policy and practice responses, including Welsh Government oversight. Whether there is effective read across to relevant Welsh Government strategies.

§ Devolved and UK powers: how joined up is the interface between devolved and non-devolved policy such as criminal and youth justice.

The volume of missing persons in Dyfed-Powys area has fluctuated between January 2021 to January 2024, and there are no noticeable patterns over time.

The majority (51%) of Missing Persons between January 2021 to January 2024 were aged 11 to 17.

Llamau, a commissioned service, provide a high quality independent de-briefing and mediation service for children and young people who have been reported as ‘missing’ within Dyfed-Powys Police area. The service provides direct support to the young person, family mediation and group work as appropriate, along with referrals for specialist support from partner agencies.

You can see the most recent stats on Llamau in Dyfed-Powys here:

https://www.dyfedpowys-pcc.org.uk/media/11931/llamau-22-23-draft-infographic-v4.pdf

Recent FOI requests and responses from Dyfed-Powys Police that may be of interest:

https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/foi-ai/dyfed-powys-police/disclosure2022/february/asylum-seeker-children-missing-0542022/

https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/foi-ai/dyfed-powys-police/disclosure-2023/november/missing-person-reports-9742022/

Please set out any views on children and young people who are victims of criminal exploitation below.

You may wish to consider:

§ Nature and scale across Wales and regional variations (e.g. traditional, drug related, sexual, financial).

§ At risk groups: including care experience, children experiencing trauma in the home and children not enrolled in mainstream education.

§ Policy: The effectiveness of devolved policy including Welsh Government oversight. Whether there effective read across to relevant WG strategies such as Child Sexual Exploitation.

§ Practice: Approaches to prevention, community resilience, early intervention, support provided and exit strategies for victims. Practice issues such as information sharing and data collection.

§ Devolved and UK powers: How joined up is the interface between devolved and non-devolved policy such as criminal and youth justice? Are there any points of tension between criminal law and safeguarding?

Recent FOI requests and responses from Dyfed-Powys Police that may be of interest:

https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/foi-ai/dyfed-powys-police/disclosure2022/january/child-exploitation-offences-9602022/

https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/foi-ai/dyfed-powys-police/disclosure2022/june/child-sexual-offences-3702022/

https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/foi-ai/dyfed-powys-police/disclosure2022/june/child-protection-case-conferences-3612022/

https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/foi-ai/dyfed-powys-police/disclosure-2024/february/sexual-assault-reports-9662023/

Please set out any views on other groups of children on the margins.

You may wish to identify other groups of children “on the margins”. These would be groups of children in circumstances that require a specific response from children’s services or other statutory providers and for which there are concerns about the current policy or practice.