Edinburgh marks four years of service protecting children from criminal exploitation

For the occasion, the charity was joined by senior members of Police Scotland, the Justice Secretary Angela Constance and others.

The roundtable discussed the innovative multi-agency partnership approach which shares information and spots signs of exploitation so the charity’s specialists can intervene. During its time, the collaboration has helped divert young people away from the devastating impacts of involvement in criminality and violence as a result of exploitation.

Criminal exploitation of children describes a complex type of child abuse where a young person is manipulated or pressured into criminal activity.1 These can include coercion through use of intimidation, violence and weapons to participate in the sale, storage or movement of illegal drugs, theft and burglary, and transporting money.

The early intervention initiative was first piloted in Glasgow in 2013, and following its success the service was launched across the UK in Edinburgh, Dundee, Newcastle and Cardiff, with funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, which helped prove the model as effective and viable. It now runs in eight areas of the UK, five of them in Scotland.

Ms Constance said: “Action for Children is a valuable partner in implementing Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime Strategy and I welcome publication of the evaluation report into their SOC Early Intervention Service.

“The report underlines the important work the Early Intervention Service does in identifying vulnerable young people and supporting them from being criminally exploited by organised crime groups.

“Disrupting serious organised crime and diverting people away from being drawn into criminality is a priority for the Scottish Government and the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce. I am grateful to our partners across the public, private and third sectors who contribute to the work of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce and I look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts to disrupt serious organised crime.”