May slams Rotherham child protection over ‘complete dereliction of duty’

By The Press Association2nd September 2014News EnglandChild Protection, News England, Rotherham

Fears of being seen as racist should never get in the way of stopping child sexual exploitation, Home Secretary Theresa May said as she promised the Government would learn the lessons of the Rotherham abuse scandal.

Mrs May denounced the “complete dereliction of duty” of Rotherham Council and the police after a harrowing report detailed the grooming of at least 1,400 children and young people in the town over 16 years.

Her comments came as South Yorkshire Police launched an independent investigation into its handling of child sex allegations and Labour suspended four members who held council positions during the years of abuse outlined in Professor Alexis Jay’s report.

The report found that although the majority of perpetrators were identified by victims as “Asian” in origin, the council did not engage directly with the Pakistani-heritage community and some staff were nervous about identifying the abusers’ ethnic origins “for fear of being thought racist”.

Answering an urgent question from shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper in the Commons, Mrs May told MPs: “Professor Alexis Jay’s report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 is a terrible account of the appalling failures by Rotherham Council and by the police and other agencies to protect vulnerable children.

“It was a complete dereliction of duty.”

She went on: “I am clear that cultural concerns, both the fear of being seen as racist, and the frankly disdainful attitude to some of our most vulnerable children must never stand in the way of child protection.

“We know that child sexual exploitation happens in all communities. There is no excuse for it in any of them. And there is never any excuse for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The abuse of children is a particularly vile crime and one this Government is determined to stop.

“We have made significant strides since 2010. We have important work under way.

“But we will learn the lessons from Professor Jay’s report to make sure we are doing all we can to safeguard children and to prosecute the people behind these disgusting crimes.”

Mrs May revealed that South Yorkshire Police is currently carrying out a number of investigations into child sex abuse in the county covering hundreds of victims.

She also criticised “institutionalised political correctness” within the council as she outlined potential plans for the Government to launch an independent inspection of the way it works with voluntary and community groups.

Mrs May said Communities Secretary Eric Pickles was “minded” to commission the inspection and is also considering the implications of the Jay report for other English councils.

The Home Secretary said: “The Communities Secretary shares my concerns over the failings by Rotherham Council that have been identified.

“This includes the inadequate scrutiny by councillors, institutionalised political correctness, the covering up of information, and the failure to take action against gross misconduct.

“He is minded to use his powers under the Local Government Act 1999 to commission an independent inspection of the council’s compliance with its best value duty, with a particular focus on its corporate governance and service arrangements.

“And in parallel he is considering the implications of the report’s findings for all local authorities in England.”

The scathing report by Professor Jay, released last week, detailed harrowing examples of girls – many of them in local authority care – who were raped, trafficked and threatened with extreme violence.

It also found that senior council officers, elected members and police officers were aware of the problem for years but failed to tackle it.

A Home Office researcher who looked into the allegations more than a decade ago last night told the BBC’s Panorama that she was put under pressure to change her findings and was sent on diversity awareness training after highlighting most of the abusers were Pakistani in origin.

Responding to Mrs May, the shadow home secretary Ms Cooper said there are no excuses for turning a blind eye to child sex abuse, including the consent of vulnerable girls or waving the banner of community relations.

The Labour MP said: “1,400 children in Rotherham were groomed, raped and exploited. 1,400 lives devastated by abuse.

“Criminals, rapists, and traffickers have got away with it and may be harming other children now.

“The council, social services, the police, people supposed to protect our children, failed time and again to keep them safe.

“Alexis Jay’s report is damning. It is never an excuse to turn a blind eye to evidence of children being abused.

“It is never an excuse that vulnerable girls may have consented to their own abuse.

“And it is never an excuse to look at race and ethnicity or community relations and use those as an excuse not to investigate and punish sex offenders.”