Rotherham Council "Not Fit For Purpose"

A government inspection ordered after the Rotherham child abuse scandal has found the Council is not fit for purpose, and needs a new start.

The damming report shows the authority's culture is unhealthy, there's bullying and sexism and political correctness.

Anyone trying to speak out is silenced and the scale of child abuse in the town has been covered up for years.

This report was ordered after the Jay report found 1,400 young people had been groomed and abused over 16 years.

It has found not enough is being done to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation, there is a lack of support for victims and not enough action is being taken against known perpetrators.

The issue of race is highlighted, with staff lacking he confidence to tackle difficult issues for fear of being seen as racist or upsetting community cohesion.

But, the report says, by failing to take action against the Pakistani male perpetrators, the Council has actually fuelled the far right and allowed racial tensions to grow.

The inspection team reviewed 7000 documents, looked in detail at case files and met with over 200 people, including current and former staff, council Members, partners, victims and parents.

The investigations revealed:

A council in denial about serious and on-going safeguarding failures.
An archaic culture of sexism, bullying and discomfort around race.
Weak and ineffective arrangements for taxi licensing which leave the public at risk.
Ineffective leadership and management, no shared vision.
A culture of covering up uncomfortable truths, silencing whistle-blowers and paying off staff rather than dealing with difficult issues.

The report says that RMBC does not have strong enough leadership to guide the borough out of its present difficulties and put it back on a path to success.

It acknowledges there have been some improvements since changes were made in the senior management team - but that won't be enough to stop the culture of sexism, bullying and silencing debate.

It concludes that the council needs a fresh start.