Plans for extra child abuse safeguarding hubs for the Black Country

West Midlands Police chiefs say they are pleased with the performance of a 'multi-agency safeguarding hub' (MASH) in Oldbury and have held discussions about opening others in Dudley and Wolverhampton.

They aim to to bring together staff from the council, police, probation, NHS and the voluntary sector who work with children and families at risk of harm, in a bid to improve how cases are handled.

Discussions on MASH were part of a wider debate about child sexual exploitation during a meeting of the Strategic Police and Crime Board.

Police chiefs spoke of the unique challenges posed by exploitation – including abuse in the home and online - especially when dealing with historical cases.

Chief Constable Chris Sims, said: "This is a big and complicated issue. There has been a sea-change in public opinion on this area in recent months. That is hugely positive but we are only at the beginning of that change.

"Given we are now applying different standards and expectations it seems very, very unlikely those cases we dealt with five or ten years ago, if they were dealt with now, they wouldn't be different.

"That is difficult and challenging for us as an organisation but it must be the case."

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary has given the force six weeks to improve child protection and accused staff of a 'general lack of understanding' of the extent of the problem.

But major changes to how it responds to the threat have been introduced.

Despite deep budget and staff cuts the strength of the force's Public Protection Unit - whose responsibilities include child sexual exploitation - has been more than doubled from 350 to around 800 officers and more could follow.

And a dedicated child sexual exploitation co-ordinator has been introduced for each local community unit with a central team dealing with longer term cases.

Assistant Chief Constable Carl Foulkes, said: "It is a key priority for the force. We have seen awareness and understanding of the issues has gone up tenfold in the last six or seven months.

"The online element is one area this force has led the way, running its own operations and supporting national operations."

West Midlands Police has now pinpointed 210 youngsters in danger of falling victim to predators and there has been a 42 percent rise in child abuse referrals since 2009.

The average age of victims of child exploitation is 15 with 68 percent either currently, or have previously been, in local authority care. More than half - 54 per cent - are white, while 87 per cent are female.