‘Vulnerable youngsters left open to sexploitation’

The Ofsted report warned authorities were failing to use full powers to protect children (Posed by model). Picture: TSPL

Those in charge have been challenged to show “political and moral courage” to sweep away a disjointed culture that is “too slow” to react.

Watchdog Ofsted also slated local arrangements for tackling cases of child sexual exploitation (CSE) as “underdeveloped” with leadership “frequently lacking”.

Though the report confines itself to England and Wales, calls for improved ways of working are founded on the same information being used to inform Scottish Government plans to tackle CSE north of the Border.

The investigation comes amid a spate of allegations, convictions and resignations connected to organised CSE in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and Telford.

According to the report, senior leaders “must show political and moral courage” in tackling the problem, where victims are often white-British girls and the perpetrators men of Asian heritage. “They must never allow misguided fears about offending cultural sensitivities to get in the way of confronting CSE wherever it occurs,” it said.

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN

• Subscribe to our daily newsletter (requires registration) and get the latest news, sport and business headlines delivered to your inbox every morning

• You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google +

It added: “Some areas have not made use of the full range of powers available to them to disrupt and prosecute perpetrators.

“In areas where there have been high-profile criminal investigations, [this] has galvanised local authorities and their partners into trying to ensure past failings are never repeated. Such resolution was not apparent in other local authorities.”

Debbie Jones, Ofsted’s national director for social care, said: “CSE has a devastating effect on children, young people and whole communities.

“It cannot be acceptable that local authorities and their partners are still failing to grasp and deal with it effectively.”

In August, Professor Alexis Jay’s report into CSE in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 detailed “utterly appalling” examples of “children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone”.

She said: “They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities, abducted, beaten and intimidated.”

That investigation found girls as young as 11 had been raped by large numbers of men.

It triggered the resignations of council leader Roger Stone, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright and Joyce Thacker, head of children’s services at Rotherham Council. Council chief executive Martin Kimber is due to stand down next month.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to investigate ten South Yorkshire police officers over their handling of CSE in Rotherham.

Yesterday’s findings came a day after Ofsted was condemned by MPs for failing to lift the lid on the council’s inability to tackle a widespread problem.

Last week, the Scottish Government announced a major public campaign to raise awareness of CSE, urging night workers, including taxi drivers and club security staff, to be extra vigilant for signs of abuse.

A spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring the well-being and safety of every child in Scotland, including protecting those at risk of CSE.”

SCOTSMAN TABLET AND IPHONE APPS

• Download your free 30-day trial for our iPad, Android and Kindle apps

• Keep up to date with all aspects of Scottish life with The Scotsman iPhone app, completely free to download and use