Telford council challenged over plans to oversee CSE report recommendations

On Thursday, Telford & Wrekin Council is set to approve the governance model which will be tasked with making sure Tom Crowther's recommendations from the report are completed.

Mr Crowther's report, published earlier this year, concluded that child sexual exploitation had "thrived unchecked" in Telford for decades, with more than 1,000 children victims of sickening and harrowing abuse.

It includes a number of recommendations to be followed by organisations, including the council.

The authority's plan for carrying out the recommendations was being put before the council's cabinet on Thursday morning.

But, prior to the report's publication, the council's opposition Conservative group, led by Councillor Andrew Eade, called for an extraordinary meeting over what they have described as delays to the process, and concerns about the independence of oversight.

Councillor Lee Carter, the Labour cabinet member responsible for establishing the independent inquiry, has responded by saying an independent chairman would oversee all work on the recommendations – and that he welcomes the call for an extraordinary meeting as further scrutiny of the process.

Councillor Eade said: "The council must move quickly and decisively to provide full and unquestionable independent oversight of the implement of all 47 recommendations made by Tom Crowther KC following his independent inquiry into child exploitation within the borough.

“We are now three months on from the report’s release and, with little or no progress made to date, I have to say that I have no confidence whatsoever in the council administration’s ability or desire to progress Mr Crowther’s detailed findings.

“I will not allow this issue to be kicked into the long grass as it is vital that we learn from mistakes and put measures in place to do everything possible to stamp out this awful crime.”

Speaking ahead of the cabinet meeting Councillor Carter said: "The council, the police and health partners have already committed to delivering every recommendation in the independent inquiry report and this work is underway with a number of actions in progress.

“We welcome rigorous scrutiny of the progress the partnership is making and see the call for an extraordinary meeting as another opportunity to provide this.

“The independent inquiry author will also provide assurance in due course.

“We have already confirmed that we are working with three Independent Lived Experience Consultees, three survivors who led the call for the independent inquiry, to ensure the voices of victims and survivors are at the heart of the work we are doing.

“We are also appointing independent chair people to oversee the work, have asked for all political parties' involvement and are committed to ensuring the process is transparent with regular updates to the public. This is being set out at a meeting of Cabinet on 13 October 2022.

“The government, Ofsted and the report itself recognise that children services here in Telford and Wrekin have been transformed since 2016 and are now leading the way nationally. As a council, we remain committed to a long term extension to funding for the specialist team of social workers who deal with child sexual exploitation.”