First London guide on trafficking cases

Social workers in London have been given clear instructions on investigating child trafficking cases.

In the first protocol on safeguarding such children in the capital, social workers are told to check the documents of adults they are interviewing when trafficking is suspected.

The documents include passports, utility bills and birth certificates, according to the draft London Procedure for Safeguarding Trafficked and Exploited Children .

The role of other agencies, particularly health and education, in tackling trafficking is also highlighted in the protocol, published by the London Child Protection Committee this week for consultation.

Health visitors and nurses visiting children at home should be “alert to the rapid turnover of different children at one any address”, it says.