Missing & Child Exploitation (MACE)

MACE 1 and MACE 2 meetings

The Missing & Child Exploitation (MACE) meeting is one meeting but in two parts to enable effective, timely and efficient information sharing.

MACE meetings monitor and review multi-agency activity and responses to known and potential Child Exploitation and trafficking across Essex within the four quadrants. It also considers children who run away or go missing from home, care or school recognising they are vulnerable to being targeted for sexual exploitation. Some children and young people are vulnerable to exploitation after going missing, however not all missing children are exploited.

MACE meetings Part 1 and Part 2 are co-Chaired by ECC Social Care and Essex Police. Membership is strategic and includes ESCB, ECC Social Care Children & Families (various representatives), Essex Police (various representatives), District Council safeguarding leads, Youth Offending Service, Health (various representatives), Education Access Team, The Children’s Society, Youth Service and Family Solutions. MACE 2 meetings additionally include the Community Safety Partnerships, British Transport Police and National Probation Service.

MACE Part 1 takes place monthly and MACE Part 2 takes place quarterly. This is a multi-agency meeting with overall governance provided by ESCB CE & Missing Subcommittee. To enable scrutiny and oversight by the Essex Safeguarding Children Board (ESCB), MACE meetings report directly into the ESCB CE & Missing Sub-Committee, which in turn reports annually to the ESCB, and the Chairs for each quadrant are required to submit a report twice a year.

MACE 1

MACE 1 reviews plans for individual victims of Child Exploitation and/or those whom are most vulnerable from missing episode(s). These are children assessed as HIGH RISK.

The aims of MACE 1 are to:

• Provide strategic partnership oversight of the plans for children identified as high risk from exploitation and/or missing episodes.
• Partners to ensure any additional disruptions, safeguarding responses or support is added to the plan where required.
• Partners to share collective responsibility for the delivery and success of the MACE 1 plan.
• Partners to provide suitable scrutiny and challenge of each other to ensure plans are implemented or changed when required.
• Partners to be accountable to the Chairs for their organisation’s response.
• Partners to agree together escalation processes when plans are not succeeding.
• Partners to agree measures of success tailored to each young person.

MACE 2

MACE 2 explores the current local picture of exploitation through analysing trends/patterns and identifying vulnerable locations (suspected exploitation occurring) and hotspots (known exploitation occurring). MACE 2 provides a district to countywide oversight of exploitation.

It focuses on:

• Establishing exact nature of concerns (e.g. models of exploitation, victim & suspect profiles, specific trends),
• safeguarding victims,
• identifying vulnerable populations and locations,
• working with Community Safety Partnerships to utilise governance and regulatory powers to investigate and disrupt exploitation,
• increase community awareness for the prevention and reporting of exploitation,
• gathering information regarding links between suspected offenders and movements across areas and out of county,
• targeting venues/locations identified as hotspots or vulnerable locations,
• ensuring information is recorded, exchanged and disseminated appropriately,
• providing information to inform local problem profiles to develop action plans and impact measures.

Further details about the MACE arrangements can be found in the RIC & Missing Arrangements (2022).

Guidance for MACE Partners at MACE 2 Meetings

Information that would be useful to bring to the Meeting for sharing with other MACE Partners and generating group discussion consistently across all MACE 2 Meetings.

1. Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Leads

• An overview of locations and themes linked to exploitation which have been identified by Community Safety teams, Housing departments, and Licensing Teams, as well as any disruption activities/orders.
• A summary of youth diversionary and crime prevention activities taking place, including those funded via the Violence & Vulnerability Unit and the PFCC.
• Details on the Operation Minerva zones and associated action plans.
• A summary of any awareness-raising campaigns and activities.
• Updates on community safety workstreams via Safer Essex and any funding opportunities for partners.
• Updates on priorities from the Strategic Needs assessments and any measures of success or any concerns.
• Updates from any local exploitation groups (LEG, MACP, Operation Ivory etc.)

Caroline Wiggins (Epping Forest District Council) will ask for a countywide update from Trading Standards ahead of each MACE 2 Meeting.

2. Essex Police

• Current drugs lines and general locations of operation.
• Areas which are currently experiencing conflict such as community violence.
• Any significant line disruption and potential fallout requiring support.
• Details of any current trends or patterns.
• Details of any public space hotspots where it has been identified that people have been harmed e.g. hotels, food premises, etc.
• MO for suspect types and brief victim profiles for current victims of exploitation.
• Any additional information from the CYP officers.

As the bullet points may be applicable to multiple attendees, it is suggested that it is left to the attendees as to which points they are able to provide information on, as this may differ from meeting to meeting.

Please note that the Op Raptor attendee will be either the Op Raptor DI or DS. If the Raptor DI is available, they will attend.

3. Health

• Overview of trends in A&E
• Affinity Programme data
• Exploitation and/or missing themes from school nurses
• Exploitation and/or missing themes from sexual health services
• Exploitation and/or missing themes from EWMHS

4. Education

• Overview of emerging trends linked to exploitation and/or missing
• Prevention work linked to exploitation and/or missing
• Safeguarding responses linked to exploitation and/or missing