‘Serious failures’ to protect children from CSE identified in Oldham review
Fiona Simpson
Monday, June 20, 2022
Failures by Oldham Council and Greater Manchester Police to properly carry out child protection procedures left vulnerable children exposed to child sexual exploitation (CSE), a damning independent review finds.
The review, published today (20 June) by Greater Manchester Combined Authority highlights “that some children had been failed by the agencies that were meant to protect them because child protection procedures had not been properly followed”.
The review of practices dating back as far as 2005, was commissioned by Oldham Council in 2019.
Despite “consistent” efforts by the council to publicise the risk of CSE to vulnerable children, an examination of 10 complex cases by the review team found that “the quality of casework was generally very poor and characterised by a failure to appropriately initiate multi-agency child protection procedures when these children were known to be at risk of significant harm”.
It also reveals a “structural flaw” in the area's multi-agency safeguarding system that was set up to tackle CSE which led to “some children not being protected and perpetrators not being apprehended earlier”.
This “messenger” system was used “primarily” as a police resource, the review states, with just one social worker acting as a conduit between the specialist team and the mainstream childcare social work teams which were then responsible for undertaking assessments, safeguarding and planning for children at risk of CSE.
However, the review notes that “these were not always undertaken to the required standard, and managers within the mainstream service were not always giving these cases sufficient oversight and direction”.
It also highlights multiple missed opportunities to prevent abuse stretching back to 2005, including offences committed by a council welfare officer who was later convicted of 30 rapes.
Senior police and council officers may have misled MPs on the home affairs select committee when denying wrongdoing over the “profound sexual exploitation” of a 12-year-old girl know as ‘Sophie’ in 2005, it adds.
The independent review was undertaken by child protection specialist Malcolm Newsam CBE and former senior police officer Gary Ridgway, who both worked on the assurance review of Operation Augusta, published in 2020.
It clarifies that while “numerous failings” in safeguarding procedures were identified, the review team found “no evidence to suggest senior managers or councillors sought to cover-up the existence of CSE or the complexity involved in tackling perpetrators and nor was there widespread CSE in residential settings, in shisha bars or in the local taxi trade”.
Following its publication, the council and Greater Manchester Police pledged to continue to improve work to protect children at risk of CSE.
Oldham Council leader, Amanda Chadderton, said: “We fully accept the findings of this independent report.
“It highlights clear failings, where our services at the time were not good enough to protect vulnerable young people suffering the most awful abuse. For that I am deeply sorry.
“We have learned from reports carried out in other towns and cities across the country, and from changes in national guidance, and have changed the way we do things as a result. The way we work has already moved on immeasurably.
“That said, we are not complacent. We can and will improve further, wherever we need to.”
Chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Stephen Watson, added: “The safeguarding arrangements that were in place in Greater Manchester Police during the time period covered by the review were not good enough to protect children from sexual abuse.
“I want to offer my sincere apologies to everyone affected by the events considered in the report. Our actions fell far short of the help that they had every right to expect and were unacceptable. I am sorry for the hurt and on-going trauma they have suffered because of what happened to them.
“I offer no excuses but can give assurances that our approach to tackling child exploitation has vastly improved and is now a policing priority.”
Responding to the report, Andy Burham, mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “It is never too late to face up to past failings nor to say sorry to those who were let down.
“This report continues the process of shining a spotlight on past failures in Greater Manchester. Whilst difficult to read, it has identified a number of wrongs that need to be put right.”