Rotherham Council Says Sorry

5 February 2015, 15:21 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

The Interim Chief Executive of Rotherham Borough Council has said sorry over the town's child sex exploitation scandal.

A damning report found the council "not fit for purpose" with a culture of bullying, sexism, cover-ups and silencing whistle blowers.

It also revealed young people in the town were not being kept safe and victims were being failed.

The whole cabinet, including the council leader, have resigned.

In a statement I.C.E. Jan Ormondroyd said:

"Louise Casey's report describes a catalogue of cultural and system failings, and we have accepted its findings.

"The Council could and should have done more in the past and we apologise for the devastating impact that this has had on the lives of the people of Rotherham.

"What Rotherham needs now is a move towards stability, a clear way forward and the fresh start which Louise Casey and her team have called for.

"We understand the impact of the current uncertainties around the future leadership and management of the Council on the people of Rotherham, and also on staff in the Council.

"I have written to the Department for Communities and Local Government, urging them to confirm urgently who the five Commissioners who will take over the running of the Council will be and to ensure they are in place as soon as possible.

"Given the scale of change which the Council is now facing, it is inevitable that there will be questions that people will have that we can't answer immediately.

"However, we are committed to sharing information and providing clarity as soon as we can.

"In the meantime, the people of Rotherham will not see any disruption to the way in which we delivery our day-to-day services for citizens."

The Prime Minister David Cameron has told Heart it is completely right that the government now take over the running of the council.

He says lessons must be learned and a situation like this must not be allowed to happen again.

He said it is now law enforces, and prosecutors to decide how people are held to account.