One of the few groups who emerge from this report unscathed are local youth workers who alerted the police and council to the exploitation they were witnessing, albeit to find their claims dismissed as exaggeration.
In Rotherham, local youth workers were well regarded by the young victims of abuse and their knowledge and greater understanding of CSE meant they recognised abusive patterns of behaviour that were dismissed as "lifestyle choice" by other agencies.
According to the report, the situation in Rotherham may well be typical of other local authorities. This is in itself a terrible conclusion. Yet in Rotherham, children's social care budgets increased between 2009 and 2013.
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