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Social workers will receive more information on child trafficking included in a booklet to help them if they are worried that a child is being abused, writes Amy Taylor.

The measure is the result of a meeting between a child protection group and children’s minister Margaret Hodge this week.

At the meeting, Carron Somerset, acting campaigns coordinator at End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes UK, said that the new version of the booklet will be made available to all social workers.

A recent report on how social services in London deal with child trafficking, written by Somerset, found social workers often felt they needed more information on the issue. It called on the government to issue guidance and a practice manual to social workers on dealing with child trafficking.

Somerset said that although she was “pleased” with the decision the government had not had gone far enough.

“There was some reluctance [from Hodge] about the scale of child trafficking in the UK and therefore the need for dedicated support for social workers,” said Somerset.

No date has yet been set for the publication of the new version of What to do if you are worried that a child is being abused.

Cause for Concern? London Social Services and Child Trafficking from www.ecpat.org.uk