Page 17 - OCF Oxfordshire Uncovered

ANALYSIS
Despite Oxfordshire being a wealthy county, many children are living in deprivation, are not being offered the best opportunities, or are at risk.
As the most unaffordable city in England, many of Oxford’s population are among the country’s wealthiest. In contrast, more than 1 in 5 children in the city are living in poverty.
Disadvantage and poor educational attainment often walk hand in hand. The index for Education, Skills and Training for children and young people show 64 of Oxfordshire’s areas to be in the 20% most deprived in England.
• Families involved in anti-social behaviour or youth crime
• Children on child protection plans or Children in Need plans
for neglect
• Domestic abuse
• Health issues, including substance misuse.
These signs of deprivation are concerning. In general, victims of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) tend to be from more deprived backgrounds, and are most often living with one or more of the ‘toxic trio’: parental mental health issues, domestic violence and parental substance misuse. All of this paints a very different picture to the idyllic rural or privileged childhood we might imagine when we think of families in Oxfordshire.
In May 2011, Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council launched Operation Bull nch – an investigation into serious sexual offences against children across the county. As part of the inquiry 11 men have been convicted for offences including rape, traf cking and prostitution of girls as young as 11. Bull nch has drawn our attention to the pervasiveness of CSE in Oxfordshire, and to the causes of the susceptibility of the victims.
“It beggars belief that men who claim to pride themselves on being family men, some with daughters of their own, could treat other people’s daughters in this way, and that exploitation of children of this kind could persist for so long in 21st-century Britain. They treated the girls as less than human.”
Lady Justice Hallett, Bull nch judge
Another vulnerable and rarely discussed group is young carers. It is believed there are around 14,000 children in Oxfordshire who take care of parents, grandparents or siblings – often jeopardising their educational attainment and therefore their future life chances.
These ndings demonstrate just how many childhoods are lost or stolen across Oxfordshire. The consequences can have a devastating effect on these children’s futures. For this reason, we believe that safeguarding our children and giving them the best opportunity in life should be a focus of signi cant attention.
Education, Skills and Training: Children and Young People sub-domain
Deprivation decile: 1=within the most deprived 10% in England, decile 10=least deprived 10%. England average is between deciles 5 & 6.
40
20 0
The map, chart, and table are coloured by deprivation decile. For each
This shows that many children across the county are not achieving
measure of deprivaiton, an area with a decile of 1 is in the most-deprived
academically in comparison to the rest of the country. Although
10% of areas in England and is shaded red. An area with a decile of 10 is in the least-deprived 10% of areas in England for this indicator and is
Oxford is world-renowned for its universities, for children in Key
shaded blue.
Stage 2 (age 7–11), the city ranks in the bottom 25% of districts nationally. This continues into secondary school, where there are persistently high rates of absence and expulsions.
As part of its ‘Thriving Families’ programme, Oxfordshire County Council will be working with more than 3,000 families that have at least two of the following problems:
• Children not attending school
• Adults out of work
Children and families
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
Number of LSOAs
15