Oldham CSE Report: Disciplinary action 'must be taken'

Oldham Liberal Democrats have discovered that, despite Oldham Council’s and Greater Manchester Police’s assurances that processes to deal with Child Sexual Exploitation have changed extensively, they have also confirmed that no disciplinary action has so far been taken against any staff still employed who took part in the failures described in the report. 

The recent Assurance Review into historic CSE in Oldham found that both GMP and Oldham Council had failed numerous children who were suffering horrific abuse.

Twelve-year-old Sophie was sexually abused multiple times over multiple occasions and many of the incidents were known to GMP and Council staff who did not respond appropriately. 

Oldham Lib-Dems insist that both GMP and Oldham Council have confirmed that, whilst many of the staff involved have either left or retired, no remaining staff have either been investigated or disciplined.

GMP have confirmed that they are recruiting a new head of their Professional Services Branch who will investigate any potential misconduct, but that no investigations have taken place to date.

Mark Kenyon, Liberal Democrat councillor for Grotton, Springhead and Lees, said: “We’ve questioned the Council and GMP further on their response to the Assurance report.

"We want to know that processes have changed.

"But we also want to know that, if there are any staff left who were involved in these failures, they are investigated and disciplinary action taken where appropriate.

“I’m so disappointed – both the Council and Andy Burnham should have been all over this.

"Responses to CSE are delivered by both processes and people.

"Whilst it looks like a lot of work is going on into changing processes, it’s wrong to ignore any people who were involved.

"I’m calling on both to GMP and the Council to investigate fully any remaining staff – I’m not sure how we’re all meant to have confidence without this simple step.”

Meanwhile, there are concerns that despite Oldham Council warning GMP in December 2018 that the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS check) wasn’t strong enough for taxi licensing, the Council still haven’t had a promised response from Greater Manchester Police.

Cllr Kenyon added: "We’ve quizzed Council further and they’ve confirmed that whilst Stephen Watson was appointed as the new Chief Constable in May 2021, the Council only received a reply in October, 2021.

"This promised a ‘review’ into the Council’s concerns about DBS checks and their suitability for taxi licensing and public safety.

“It’s now July 2022, and Council have revealed that GMP have still not been back in touch, let alone helped with the requirement for extra vetting.”

For their part, GMP have addressed some of Cllr Kenyon's concerns, stating that they remain dedicated to 'leaving no stone unturned' in their response to tackling CSE.

A GMP Spokesperson told the Chronicle: “GMP are keen to ensure that any individual or organisational learning from the review is captured as we do with any review into our operations and professional standards.

"This report was published on 20th June 2022 - should any potential misconduct be identified, this will be thoroughly investigated by our Professional Standards Branch through the appropriate procedures.

"It is also important that GMP is currently recruiting a new Head of Professional Standards who will bring an entirely fresh perspective and will oversee the review of these cases, and will report directly to the Deputy Chief Constable.

“With regards to taxi licencing, the letter from the Chief Constable dated 1st October 2021 detailed that a review had been commissioned into police disclosure and the Council’s Licensing team would be contacted as part of that review.

"This is in the very early stages and options are being reviewed into what support GMP could provide.

“Any force-wide or local arrangement on data sharing would supplement the DBS system and officers are currently working with Oldham Division GMP to re-affirm our priorities for public safety and information sharing.

"Licensing  reviews have already taken place to ensure nobody convicted of a sexual offence or serious criminal offences can be granted a taxi licence.

“Tackling and preventing child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester, and the support available to victims, is thankfully now worlds apart from where we were in the early 2000’s.

"There are dedicated Complex Safeguarding Hubs in every district, where multi-agency teams actively safeguard vulnerable children and provide specialist support to anyone who comes forward as a victim of CSE, wherever they are in the region.

"We have also invested over £2.3million in a Child Sexual Exploitation Unit in GMP, with officers who are dedicated to pursuing perpetrators and seeking justice for victims of CSE, regardless of the passage of time.

"Contact details for both of these can be found below.

“Whilst this will not compensate for the horrific experience these victims endured, it is our hope that our dedication to leaving no stone unturned and the clear, incomparable multi-agency response to safeguarding and tackling CSE, will provide some comfort to those whom we let down in the past, and encourage anyone who has been a victim to come forward today.”

In a statement to the Chronicle today, Cllr Amanda Chadderton, Leader of Oldham Council, was again apologetic.

She said: “I know that children were failed by us in the past, and that our safeguarding services were not good enough to protect them.

"For that I am deeply sorry.

“I have been clear, as Leader, that it’s crucial we have a culture of transparency.

"That’s why we’re going back and reviewing the conduct of our staff who were involved in these cases where we know our response was not good enough.

“The reality is that there are very few colleagues who remain working here at Oldham Council who were here at the time the Review period relates to.  

“But where any misconduct is identified, we have robust procedures whereby action will be taken against those who fall short of the high standards we set.

“Where we can perform better, we will – and significant improvements since the time the Review relates to have already been recognised.

"This was recognised by Ofsted inspectors in 2020 and again in 2021; and we are also currently awaiting the outcome of an inspection that took place last month.”

Regarding the taxi licensing concerns, Cllr Chadderton added: "We will be following this up with GMP.

“However, it’s also important to remember that taxi licensing regulations here in Oldham are more stringent than in many other areas of the country.

"We regularly undertake reviews of those drivers who hold a taxi licence, and all elected members – including those who sit on the licensing committee – undergo mandatory safeguarding training.”

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If someone who feels that they have been a victim of CSE, as outlined in the IRT’s Oldham report, and wishes to speak to the Op Sherwood team:

Call 0161 856 2124, between 7am and 3pm, Monday to Friday

Or email: operationsherwood@gmp.police.uk

To report directly to police that you have been a victim, believe someone else has been a victim or is at risk of CSE, contact GMP via 101 or use the online chat facility at: gmp.police.uk

The Oldham Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub:

Call 0161 770 1045 between 8.40am and 4.40pm Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, specialist support services can also be reached:

Get help and support from St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) by calling 0161 276 6515.

You can ask them not to share any information with the police if preferred.

Greater Manchester Victim Support Helpline - call 0161 200 1950.

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