Council pledges to fulfil all Child Sexual Exploitation inquiry recommendations by end of next year

Of the 47 recommendations made by the inquiry in July this year, 22 related to the council.

Councillors heard in a meeting on Thursday that steps are being taken to support, and progress, the implementation of recommendations.

However the leader of the Conservative group on the council, Andrew Eade, said there was no independence within the implementation.

On Thursday Councillor Eade called for an extraordinary meeting to express "deep concern and no confidence in the lack of a fully independent structure to oversee the implementation of recommendations put forward by Tom Crowther KC following the conclusion of his recent CSE inquiry."

But his motion was lost.

Councillor Lee Carter said that two recommendations had been completed with another four well underway.

"We have an action plan to ensure that all the recommendations will have been met by the end of next year, six months ahead of schedule," Councillor Carter said.

He said a cross-party group was being set up to oversee the work and that the council was seeking an independent chair and facilitator.

The council is also working with three survivors of child sexual abuse to ensure the recommendations are met.

In 2018, it was agreed that the council would commission a judge-led independent inquiry into historic child sexual exploitation within the borough.

"Our priority is the safeguarding of children and young people," Councillor Carter said.

Councillor Eade said: "What is fundamentally wrong with the proposed CSE Governance Model is that it is entirely landlocked by the current regime and effectively a council closed shop."

"The proposed Scrutiny Assembly and Cross-Party Member Liaison Group should be totally removed from the proposed governance structure and a direct reporting line made from the Strategic Implementation Group to an independent and experienced organisation who would audit the council’s implementation of CSE recommendations.

"That independent organisation should then report directly to elected councillors at a dedicated Full Council meeting."

Councillor Carter quoted Tom Crowther KC, who said that implementing the recommendations should not lead to more bureaucracy.