AT LEAST 28 children as young as 13 have been deemed at risk of sexual exploitation this year, The Observer can reveal.

Slough Borough Council said the figure represented the number of active cases of youngsters at risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE) at any one time last year.

It could not give the full number of children referred to the council amid CSE concerns due to its data recording system – meaning the true figure is likely to be much higher.

Campaigners have said the figures are the 'tip of the iceberg’, and concerns have been raised over the effectiveness of the Slough Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (SLSCB), which is in charge of overseeing how agencies provide support to vulnerable children.

It was ranked as 'inadequate’ – the worst of four grades – by Ofsted inspectors in February. But John Nixson, Slough Borough Council’s head of safeguarding since June, said: “Slough has the structure of a good service. There are good reasons to believe that when concerns are made the right actions will be made, including criminal investigations if possible.” The Observer submitted a freedom of information request asking Slough Borough Council how many children this year had been referred, or became known, to the council amid concerns that they are, or at some stage have been, at risk of sexual exploitation. The youngest child referred was 13 years and nine months old. The figures also showed at least 23 children have been identified in previous years.

More details of the suspected exploitation could not be provided because it would have taken too long to search through records, the council said.

Campaigner Richard Stokes, a former council leader, said the figures are the tip of the iceberg. “For years the crime, also those of female genital mutilation and forced marriage, has been covered up in Slough and the Thames Valley,” he added.

But Mr Nixson said that on the back of increased awareness, training and publicity, concerns about potentially exploited children are now coming in to the council from a wide range of people and services.

In October, The Observer reported the council had used the Alexis Jay report into child abuse in Rotherham Council to find flaws in the council’s own system. Taxi drivers and hoteliers were also asked to help identify children potentially at risk.

CSE remains a top priority for SLSCB, and the council’s specialist CSE team, Engage, delivers one-to-one and group work with children and young people who are affected by sexual exploitation.