Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items that requied the exclusion of the press or public.

To consider the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership CSE Review Final Report.

At the meeting held on 10 November 2021, Council considered a motion regarding Ongoing Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham. It resolved to ask that the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership (RSCP) consider the issues detailed in the motion and report back to Councillors on any changes or amendments to its strategy to tackle and prevent Child Exploitation or additional activities that may be appropriate.

Chief Officers from RMBC, South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) commissioned the RSCP to undertake an independent review to examine the concerns raised in an objective and transparent way. The RSCP’s Review Team appointed to conduct the review were selected based on their extensive experience in child safeguarding across the voluntary and statutory sectors, public protection and social work practice.

The Review Team were:

Jenny Myers – Independent Chair of RSCP. Ms Myers is a lead reviewer for the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and has held the role of independent chair for RSCP since October 2019. She is a former independent chair of other safeguarding partnerships and led high-profile case reviews including around CSE.

Matt Thompson – Police and Justice Lead. Mr Thompson is a former Head of Public Protection for Derbyshire Police. He is currently Head of Direct Delivery of a UK charitable network who disseminate information, best practice and learning across voluntary and statutory services to inform, educate and prevent child exploitation and abuse.

Jenny Coles – Independent Consultant. Ms Coles is a registered social worker and is a former Strategic Director of Children. She was president of the Association of Directors of Children Services. She is currently chair of the board of Trustees for What Works for Children’s Social Care and a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.

The Chair welcomed the three Review Team members who were present at the meeting to speak to their report. The Chair also thanked the Review Team for taking the time to come to the meeting in person.

The report, titled CSE Review Final Report, had been published and circulated prior to the meeting and was attached to the covering report as Appendix 1.

Jenny Myers introduced the report and confirmed that she had been the independent chair of RSCP since 2019 and that the Review Team took their responsibilities regarding Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham very seriously. Ms Myers thanked Mr Thompson and Ms Coles for their work on the review and reiterated that they are all independent and approached the review with open minds.

The openness and transparency of all members of the Council was acknowledged ranging from chief officers and staff to all those that had supported the Review Team in undertaking the review. At no stage had the team felt blocked or felt that information was being hidden which was important to acknowledge given the history of Rotherham. Ms Myers wanted to thank all those involved for making the review as easy as possible bearing in mind the complexities of the subject.

Having worked in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

To consider any issues referred for call-in from recent Cabinet meetings.

There were no call-in issues.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held on 15 June 2022 at 10.00am at Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held at 10.00am on Wednesday 15 June 2022 at Rotherham Town Hall.