Funding to combat child sexual exploitation welcomed by Shropshire PCC

John Campion said the money was a "clear acknowledgement" of the issue, adding that he was working hard to address child sexual exploitation locally.

The £13m pot, called the "Trusted Relationships Fund", is open to police, councils nurses and others to help form close protective relationships with the most vulnerable young people.

Mr Campion said: "It is a sad fact that children are sexually exploited every day in communities nationwide. It is an issue that has been under-reported for a long time, but more offences are now being recorded and demand on police is increasing.

"A lot of work is going on locally to try and encourage more victims to come forward and seek both support and justice, alongside work to prevent offences happening in the first place.

"I very much welcome this new funding from the Government, which represents a clear acknowledgement of the issue, as well as a commitment to tackling it.

"I am working hard to address the issue locally, including bolstering victim services, holding the Chief Constable to account on the subject and funding additional projects with partners such as Barnardo’s.”

The Trusted Relationships Fund will invite local authorities to apply for funding to run projects aimed at fostering relationships between frontline staff and at-risk children.

Through the fund, local authorities are encouraged to work with local partners to improve the way professionals, including social workers, youth workers, police and voluntary sector practitioners, work together to support vulnerable young people.

Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability, Victoria Atkins, said: "This government is working to keep all our children and young people safe and protect them from those who would exploit them or try to pull them into a life of violence and crime.

"We all know how valuable it can be for a child to have an adult in their life who they can trust, who they can confide in, who has their best interests at heart and who is in a position to act when they are in trouble.

"Through the Trusted Relationships Fund we want to ensure that those most at risk of abuse and exploitation, such as child sexual exploitation or gang-related exploitation have such a person in their lives."

A review carried out by the Early Intervention Foundation, commissioned by the Home Office last year, found that a trusted relationship with an adult is an essential part of programmes to support vulnerable children, and that the lack of trusted relationships is consistently cited in reviews of failures around child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The projects will be targeted towards young people aged 10 to 17 who have been identified by local partners as vulnerable to being sexually exploited, victims of county lines or peer or relationship abuse.