Rebuilding Rotherham

Two months ago, 14-year-old Jennifer* went missing overnight. This would be worrying in any context, but Jennifer had already been identified by Rotherham children’s services as being at high risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE). When she returned to her mother’s house at nine o’clock the next morning, she was taken into police protection for her own safety, and brought to a newly-refurbished building in the town centre, the home of Rotherham’s recently-launched Evolve team.

A multi-agency team set up to combat CSE, Evolve comprises eight police officers, eight social workers, an operational manager, team manager, a safeguarding nurse, two Barnardo’s workers and a worker from Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (PACE) – a charity that supports the parents and carers of children who have been sexually exploited. “We are not just different services that are co-located, we are one team,” says Lynn Mcintosh, CSE strategic lead at Rotherham Council. “Other councils may have teams that are located in the same office, but have different management structures and referral systems. Here, the idea is one approach, one team and one plan for one child.”

The team has been up and running for a year, but recently moved into the specially-renovated offices. Jennifer was the first child through the door of the new building, with its light, airy rooms, colourful paintings created by CSE survivors, friendly kitchen area and shower room. She was able to sleep, eat and change her clothes, before being interviewed in one of the private rooms off the reception area. The interview went well, and staff went out to fetch additional provisions for her while they waited for a foster placement.

This is all very different to the process experienced by children at risk of sexual exploitation in Rotherham in the past. “At no point has this child been taken to a police station to wait hours with staff she doesn’t know, or had to wait in one of the small meeting rooms at the council offices,” says Mcintosh. “Instead, she has been made very comfortable throughout, with support and care from both a police officer and social worker she has a relationship with.” Jennifer went on to disclose serious sexual offences to the police officers on the Evolve team and was able to provide clear details regarding the offender, allowing an arrest to be planned.

Professionals in Rotherham are determined to get it right when it comes to tackling child sexual exploitation and supporting the victims. They know the council got things spectacularly wrong in the past, when the town was rocked by a high-profile child sexual abuse scandal (see timeline). At least 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, including girls as young as 11 raped by groups of men. Two damning independent reports were published by Alexis Jay in August 2014 and Louise Casey in February 2015 – and soon afterwards, five government-appointed commissioners took over the running of the council.

New way of working

When a local authority is mired in such toxicity, turning things around requires a whole new way of working. “To deliver good outcomes, you need inspiring leaders, a workforce with low caseloads using evidence-based practice, and strong partnerships,” says Ian Thomas, who joined Rotherham Council as director of children’s services in January 2015, from his previous position as DCS in Derbyshire. During our visit, CSE survivors and their families share a buffet with Evolve workers, celebrating the team’s move to its new location, and Thomas looks on with pride.

“Having survivors of CSE, who have been abused in the most awful ways, sat alongside us at the opening of Evolve speaks more than words can say about the progress that has been made in such a short time,” reflects Thomas. “There was such mistrust among survivors concerning statutory agencies that this could never have happened before. It is a result of a lot of hard work in relationship building.”

The feeling of accomplishment in the room is evident, as Emma Jackson, a survivor of CSE (see box) smiles while cutting a purple ribbon to declare the premises open. Thomas sits on the comfortable sofa in the reception area, chatting with survivors and their family members. Meanwhile, Gary Ridgeway, assistant director with responsibility for supporting multi-agency CSE operations at Rotherham, finds his thoughts turning to the contrast between past and present. “For staff who rightly see themselves as hard-working and caring, the Jay report was crushing,” he says. “I came here expecting to see much more denial, but instead people are saying ‘How can we use what has happened as a spur to do things better?’.”

Thomas was keen to ensure the views of survivors and their families and practitioners helped shape his five-year transformation plan for Rotherham children’s services. Social workers told him they were hampered by high caseloads and inept IT support, and suffered from a lack of investment in staff and systems. Their concerns have led to the development of a new IT system, launching in October, and a commitment to recruiting social workers, with agency rates plummeting from 45 to 19 per cent.

There have also been changes in senior management. “Over the past 18 months, we have restructured the entire senior leadership team,” says council leader Chris Read. The support of councillors like Read has been key, asserts Thomas. “You need a set of elected members who get the need to change,” he says. “I had to secure resources from the members to enable me to reduce caseloads, bring in additional social workers and restructure the whole service from top to bottom.”

The council recently voted to make Rotherham a child-centred borough, putting children at the heart of policy and practice, and ensuring their safety and wellbeing, with a particular focus on children in care. The strategy will focus on six key areas: the rights and voice of the child; keeping children safe and healthy; ensuring children reach their potential; an inclusive borough; harnessing the resources of communities; and a sense of place. A working group has been set up to investigate what can be done in practice around issues such as involving young people in local democracy and promoting digital literacy – for example, through library-based coding clubs. Rotherham’s Lifestyle Survey, which provides insights into the experiences of children and young people living in the borough, will be used to measure success by tracking positive outcomes.