Calderdale Council ready to support grooming gangs inquiry “in any way it can” - leader
The Leader of Calderdale Council has welcomed the Government’s announcement that there will be a national inquiry
A council is ready to support the Government’s national inquiry into child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs “in any way it can”, says the authority’s leader.
Leader of Calderdale Council, Coun Jane Scullion, welcomed the Government’s announcement that there will be a national inquiry into these issues in England and Wales.
It follows recommendations from a review carried out by Baroness Louise Casey, examining data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.
Calderdale Council says it takes these issues “incredibly seriously” and has dedicated teams that recognise and manage risks children and young people could face outside their family environment.
This includes safeguarding work to prevent issues such as criminal exploitation and work to prevent children going missing from home.
The focus of the council’s work is on putting children first, protecting them and listening to them, as well as to those who are now adults and were affected by the issues in the past, to learn from their experiences, it says.
Coun Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said: “We are committed to doing our best for children and young people in Calderdale.
“Keeping children safe from harm is one of the most important things that we do as a local authority.
“Child sexual exploitation is a particularly abhorrent crime, and we take all allegations very seriously, working with partner organisations.
“We strongly support the action that is being taken to tackle the issue, based on findings from the full national review carried out by Baroness Casey.
“We welcome the announcement that a full national inquiry will be carried out and we are ready to support this and play our part in any way that we can,” she said.
Coun Scullion said the council’s efforts to keep children safe outside the home have been praised as part of a recent focused Ofsted inspection.
In a full inspection in 2024, Ofsted inspectors noted effective arrangements that are in place to assess children who are identified as being at potential risk of exploitation.
“However, we can never be complacent, and we are strongly committed to learning new ways to protect local children.
“We have already taken robust action from safeguarding reviews based on serious cases in the past, and will continue to build on our long-standing commitment to putting young people first,” she said.
On the Government’s announcement, Reform UK Calderdale group leader, Coun Dan Sutherland (Illingworth and Mixenden), wrote to Coun Scullion making a number of formal requests of the council, including “full and transparent” co-operation with the inquiry, designation of a senior responsible officer, “provision of evidence of past failures and complaints”, staff co-operation and testimony, “a public statement of support for the inquiry” and regular updates to councillors.
Calderdale had been one of the areas most seriously affected by organised grooming and sexual exploitation, with “a significant number of victims and arrests in recent years.” he said.
“It is now imperative the council does everything within its power to ensure the victims receive the justice and accountability they have long been denied,” said Coun Sutherland.