“Abuse is a national disgrace,” says Council Leader

At the latest cabinet meeting at the Town Hall Council Leader, Councillor Colin Lambert said: “Abuse in Rochdale is not just a local issue, it is a national disgrace.”

His comments came as council awaits the publication of an Ofsted report in the wake of recent events in the town and after Ofsted Inspectors had spent several days in the borough examining services for vulnerable children.

At the meeting a ‘Self-Assessment and Improvement Plan for Vulnerable Children’ was presented. This extensive report was prepared by the Interim Executive Director of Children’s Services, Gladys Rhodes White.

The improvement plan has come about as a result of service managers and partners, supported by the Performance and Transformation Team who have undertaken a self-assessment of services for vulnerable children within the borough. The aim is to help identify areas of improvement in services and provide inspectors with what it describes as “a useful narrative” regarding arrangements for their inspection.

The report examines relationships with the Safeguarding Children Board, the police, health, schools, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the voluntary and community sector.

With regard to ‘Operation Sunrise’; a multi-agency task force based at the police station set up to tackle child sexual exploitation, (CSE) the report says that all contacts in relation to children and young people aged 10 and over that are not progressed to a referral or further assessment are screened to verify that there is no risk of CSE but that in future, all referrals will go to the Sunrise Team in the first instance.

The full Ofsted report is due to be received by the council in the next two weeks.