Tory group leader demands swift action on Telford CSE inquiry recommendations
The Conservative group leader on Telford & Wrekin Council says recommendations from Telford's child sexual abuse inquiry must be put in place "as soon as possible".
Councillor Andrew Eade, leader of the opposition Tory group on the council, said efforts to tackle CSE must not go backwards – as had happened post Operation Chalice in 2012.
The disbanding and scaling back of dedicated CSE teams at both the council and West Mercia Police was heavily criticised by inquiry chairman, Tom Crowther QC.
Councillor Eade also criticised the length of time it took to commission the inquiry – which happened in 2018.
He had written to then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd two years earlier, in 2016 calling for an independent inquiry.
Councillor Eade said: "Following a 17-month-long battle for an independent inquiry from September 2016, until forcing an extraordinary meeting of T&W Council in April 2018, we finally have the results of the independent inquiry which we demanded.
“Part of this tragedy is the long delay in the authority finally conceding the need for an inquiry, which would otherwise have led to much earlier outcomes. It was a mistake which has cost us valuable time.
“However, it is absolutely vital that we now ensure that tackling this evil in our community does not take a huge leap backwards, as it did following the successful prosecution of some perpetrators during Operation Chalice in 2012.
“T&W Council and the police must now spell out in absolute detail their proposals to implement the Inquiry’s recommendations as soon as possible.
“Equally as important; additional procedures must be put in place to facilitate monitoring of current and future numbers of CSE instances, which must be open to continual and regular review to allow a measure of how tackling CSE issues in the borough are progressing.”
