Safeguarding chair finds “effective and robust” processes when child sexual exploitation is reported to Rotherham authorities
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An independent review found that there is “no evidence” Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) “may be occurring on the same scale as the past”.
The Rotherham Conservative group told a full council meeting in November that a working group made up of Conservative councillors had found “multiple examples of active grooming and CSE in multiple locations across Rotherham”.
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Hide AdThe motion called for the council to acknowledge that “CSE may be occurring on the same scale as in the past.”
A report into the safeguarding boards’ findings was probed by the council’s overview and scrutiny committee today (May 27).
It outlined the review by the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership partnership, which is made up of chair Jenny Myers, former head of public protection for Derbyshire Police Matt Thompson, and Jenny Coles, a registered social worker.
Jenny Myers told the meeting: “I‘d also like to acknowledge the openness and transparency from all members of the council.
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Hide Ad“At no stage have we felt blocked or that anything was hidden.”
“Whilst we would all dream of a world where child exploitation and child sexual exploitation doesn’t exist, it does, and Rotherham must continue to accept that, and provide services and develop and learn from services.
“There were some new opposition councillors coming in to Rotherham, and I think it was appropriate for them to want to understand more about the current situation around Child Sexual Exploitation.
“They had shared with police a number of concerning bits of information, and I think it wasn’t unreasonable to expect some reassurance about how they had been acted upon.
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Hide Ad“We found no evidence that child sexual exploitation was occurring on the same scale that it has in the past.
“Of course child sexual exploitation is occurring, but what we felt reassured of in the brief that we were given, was that there were effective and robust partnership processes in place to address concerns when they came in.”
Ms Myers added that there is a need for police and the council to have a “longer-term plan” to rebuild the public’s trust and confidence.
“There’s lots of really good work being done…. it takes a very long time for those confidences to be built again, and that maybe there needs to be more communication, consultation and consideration, about how to engage in open dialogue with the public.”
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Hide AdConservative councillor Tim Baum-Dixon said he was “reassured” by some of the report’s findings.
“Sometimes we get comments about being new councillors…and I think sometimes it’s missed that we are a reflection of the people that we represent.
“There is still this issue that the perception that the public have may not be tied up to the reality that they still aren’t confident that things are being done.
“If the public don’t have confidence that this has been dealt with, then it will continue to be perceived as a problem.”
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Hide AdJenny Myers added: “I don’t think there’s an easy answer in Rotherham.
“Being more proactive about the good news stories, and also what you are putting in place to reduce risk, and address some of the local concerns.
“There needs to be a bit more information about what is happening, what is being done.”