Labour suspends four councillors in Rotherham

Labour has suspended four members who held positions of authority at Rotherham Borough Council during the years in which hundreds of young people were subjected to sex abuse in the town.

The suspensions came as South Yorkshire Police chief constable David Crompton announced an independent investigation into his force's handling of allegations of child sexual exploitation.

Mr Crompton said an inquiry by an external force would examine the role of both the police and the council over the 16-year period during which an independent report has found at least 1,400 children and young people were groomed for abuse in the town.

The scathing report by professor Alexis Jay last week detailed harrowing examples of girls - many of them in local authority care - who were raped, trafficked and threatened with extreme violence and found that senior council officers, elected members and police officers were aware of the problem for years but failed to tackle it.

A Home Office researcher who looked into the allegations more than a decade ago last night said that she was put under pressure to change her findings.

The researcher, who was not named, told the BBC’s Panorama: “I was subjected to most intense personal hostility. There were threats made from a range of sources. I’ve never seen back-covering like it and I still feel extremely angry about that.”

She said she was booked on a diversity awareness training course after highlighting the fact that most of the perpetrators she identified in her report were from the town’s Pakistani heritage community.

Rotherham Borough Council was under Labour control throughout the period in question, and the party has now suspended the authority's former leader Roger Stone and ex-deputy leader Jahangir Akhtar, as well as serving councillors Gwendoline Ann Russell, who chairs the town's looked-after children scrutiny panel, and Shaukat Ali, a former mayor.

The suspensions will continue pending an investigation, said the party.

Mr Stone, who was leader of the Labour-dominated council for 10 years, resigned and apologised last week following the publication of the report.

He was the elected official responsible for holding the police to account for their actions in South Yorkshire from 2012 and from 2006 to 2010 he was the council cabinet member with responsibility for children’s services.

Mr Akhtar resigned as the council’s deputy leader and vice-chair of the police and crime panel last year after press reports - which he denied - alleging he knew about a relationship between a relative and an under-age girl in care. He resumed his post after being cleared by the police of any blame but lost his seat in the May election to Ukip.

Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) has also taken control of a new "rigorous" procedure for selection of candidates to the local council in the South Yorkshire town.

And the NEC's approval will be required for any application to rejoin the party by Shaun Wright, who quit Labour following the publication of the Jay Report but has refused to step down as police and crime commissioner for South Yorkshire, and former councillor Maurice Kirk.

In a statement, Labour said: "As Ed Miliband made clear last week, large numbers of young people in Rotherham were systematically abused and then let down by those who should have protected them.

“It cannot be allowed to stand.”

Labour said it had instructed the party group on Rotherham Borough Council to set up a scrutiny committee on child protection, including independent advisers, to help rebuild public confidence in the council.

It added: “Further action against others in positions of responsibility at the time may follow. Those responsible must be, and will be, held to account.”

Announcing the inquiry into the police’s handling of allegations, Mr Crompton said: “A fully independent and impartial investigation is required to ensure that people have confidence that organisations or any individuals will be investigated fairly, rigorously and with complete impartiality.

“The investigation will properly and independently examine the role of both the police and council during the period identified and address any wrongdoings or failings, which will allow the appropriate action to be taken.

“We must give victims the confidence to come forward in the knowledge that all agencies will listen, will act, provide appropriate support, and relentlessly pursue those who offend against our young people.”

The Chief Constable has begun discussions to identify an appropriate force to carry out the inquiry.

Assistant Chief Constable Ingrid Lee said: “We treat child sexual exploitation with the utmost sensitivity and I urge anyone who has concerns about a child who could be at risk to come forward. Our officers will relentlessly pursue all evidence and do everything they can to achieve justice for victims and bring those responsible to justice.

“We cannot do this alone - we need the continued support of our communities, and I urge anyone who is aware of a young person being sexually exploited to contact police so that we can protect those at risk.

“And to any victims who have not yet come forward, I encourage them to come forward in the confidence that they will be listened to, they will be taken seriously, and that support and care is available.”

PA