Senedd members criticised ministers for rebuffing calls for a mandatory offer of return-to-home interviews for all children who go missing.
Buffy Williams led a debate on the education committee’s report about children on the margins and the Welsh Government’s response to its recommendations.
The Labour committee chair told the Senedd that return interviews, where a professional talks to a child after going missing, are not always offered in Wales.
She said: “We recommended the Welsh Government make the offer of a return interview mandatory, after every missing episode.
“Sadly, the Welsh Government rejected this recommendation, arguing that the research did not reach a consensus on whether return interviews should be mandatory.”
‘Urgent issue’
Ms Williams acknowledged some young people may not want an interview and they may not always be appropriate, for example, in the case of a teenager missing a curfew.
But she told the Senedd: “Let me be clear: we did not recommend mandatory interviews for all children. We called for a mandatory offer of an interview.
“This is a simple step to ensure that every child has a chance to speak to a professional about their experience. The need for this is clear.”
Ms Williams highlighted a link between school exclusion and criminal exploitation as she welcomed ministers accepting calls to pilot a database to track children at risk.
She said: “Children who are excluded from school or who refuse to attend are at higher risk of being targeted by criminal gangs. This is an urgent issue. We need to do more to keep children in education and to support schools.”
‘Unimaginable trauma’
Calling for a national strategy to address child criminal exploitation, she said: “While the Welsh Government has expressed some reservations about a national strategy, many experts in the field believe that it is essential.”
Ms Williams said the committee heard powerful, heartbreaking accounts from children.
She told the Senedd: “The children who have gone missing or who are being exploited often endure unimaginable trauma, including brutal violence.
“Some are coerced into committing crimes themselves, others are exposed to dangerous situations, both physical and emotional, that no child should ever experience.
“These are the children we set out to better understand in our inquiry.”
‘Extremely worrying’
Joel James, a Conservative member of the committee, agreed return interviews are an essential part of helping children get back to a sense of normalcy and everyday life.
He said: “It is a big decision … to choose to leave home, and the events leading up to this and the mental wellbeing of the child or young person has to be at the forefront when providing support services. I cannot see any reason why we can’t offer a return interview.”
Mr James criticised ministers for also rejecting a recommendation to develop a child criminal exploitation risk assessment tool for frontline staff.
“It is extremely worrying that child criminal exploitation is so frequently identified as a form of exploitation in Wales,” he said. “I was shocked to learn… 59% of referrals between April and June of 2024 were for children, and 49% of the referrals were for criminal exploitation.”
Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell added: “What lies behind those statistics are real tragedies that shape the lives of children and change the lives of those children forever.”
‘Inadequate’
The shadow education secretary said the report clearly showed a need for better data collection and sharing to ensure “no child falls through the cracks”.
“That is what happens far too often,” he said.
Jane Dodds, a child protection social worker for 27 years before entering politics, was surprised by ministers’ claim of “no consensus” on a required offer of a return interview.
The Welsh Liberal Democrat leader told the Senedd: “We see very clearly that mandatory offers of return interviews are what help children.
“And I speak from experience; I’ve worked in England where it works – where, actually, children welcome the opportunity to have that offer.”
Ms Dodds also criticised an “inadequate” response to homelessness, with more than 3,000 under-16s living in temporary accommodation in Wales as of January.
‘Not necessary’
Responding to the debate on March 12, Dawn Bowden stressed that ministers accepted the recommendation around a mandatory interview offer “in principle”.
The minister for children stated a stakeholder group has been set up to look at the issue.
In a formal response to the report, ministers said: “Considering the activity being undertaken in this area, we do not consider it necessary to amend legislation at this juncture.”
Ms Bowden pointed out that there is a statutory right to a return-to-home interview under the Social Services and Wellbeing Act.
She told the debating chamber or Siambr: “This is about moving beyond that into how we make sure it happens more effectively in practice.”