Bolton Council signs charter to vow to continue tackling child sexual exploitation

Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris pledged the authority's renewed commitment to bringing abusers to justice by putting his name to the Project Phoenix document.

The project is a pan-Greater Manchester collaboration between the public sector and voluntary organisations to protect young people and capture offenders.

The Project Phoenix charter was signed by Tony Lloyd, Greater Manchester's Police and Crime Commissioner and interim mayor, alongside Greater Manchester's nine other council leaders and its incoming new chief constable, the current Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, who takes over next month on the retirement of Sir Peter Fahy.

Mr Lloyd said: "Today we’re making it loud and clear that we are absolutely committed to tackling the abhorrent sexual abuse and exploitation of our children and young people here in Greater Manchester.

"By working together and pooling resources, we can make a real difference; and I want every child in Greater Manchester to know that – no matter where they live – they can get the help and support they need if they are worried that they or a friend are at risk from sexual harm and abuse."

Entitled Protecting Our Children, the charter further reinforces the work being done by Project Phoenix.

It describes the partnership’s promise to put young people and their families at the heart of its work.

The partners said they will:

* listen to young people and their families, putting them at the heart of their work

* raise awareness of what child sexual exploitation is, what the warning signs are, and how to report it

* treat all victims, and those at risk of child sexual exploitation, fairly and compassionately

* share information to protect young people

* deliver consistently high standards of prevention, detection and support across Greater Manchester

* investigate all reports of child sexual exploitation and bring offenders to justice

* reach out to all communities in Greater Manchester to build their trust and encourage reporting

* support victims through their experience, the court process, and beyond

The signing of the charter took place during a week of action by Project Phoenix.

Specialist child sexual exploitation teams went out and about across the region to mark a year since the launch of the It’s Not Okay awareness campaign.

The theme for the week was 'Know who your friends are' and aimed to highlight to impressionable youngsters the dangers of peer-on-peer pressure and sharing sexually explicit images with their pals via phone message by way of 'sexting'.

Teenagers were given advice on how to keep safe online at the training sessions and the It's Not Okay website saw a five-fold increase in web traffic.