Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, stressed the importance for matters to be dealt with smoothly and moved a variation to the Panel’s Rules of Procedure to extend the time for public questions from fifteen minutes to sixty minutes.

Jacqueline Collins, Monitoring Officer and Legal Adviser to the Panel, referred to the preliminary enquires made by the Police and Crime Commissioner about the appropriateness of some Panel Members giving media statements or involved in votes of no confidence in their respective authorities taking part in the meeting and to determine any complaints given the need for procedural fairness and natural justice.

The Panel were advised that, although they may have been asked to deal with issues in their home authorities or respond to press enquires, this was done before the publication of information by the Police and Crime Commissioner today.  They Panel were advised that, as long as they remained open minded about the matters, they were entitled to remain in the meeting.

Consideration was given to the report presented by Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager and Support Officer to the Police and Crime Panel, which provided Panel Members with access to the report recently published by Professor Alexis Jay, O.B.E. on Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham.

The focus would be on the Police and Crime Commissioner’s response to this report and his reassurance that he was still in a position to carry out his duties effectively as a result of its publication.

In considering the report the Panel had limited powers in respect of the Police and Crime Commissioner and was unable to impose any sanctions or penalties upon the Commissioner.  Only if the Commissioner was charged with a criminal offence which carried a maximum penalty in excess of two years imprisonment did the Panel have the power to suspend him.

The Chairman invited the Police and Crime Commissioner to address the Panel as part of his reassurance and pursuance of his duties.

The Police and Crime Commissioner reinforced the message that child sexual exploitation was one of the most sickening aspects of behaviour with victims often being singled out due to their vulnerability.  He described how the scale of child sexual exploitation had risen over the last decade, which was evident in other towns and cities across the U.K. and still happening in Rotherham and across South Yorkshire.  Whilst awareness of child sexual exploitation had increased substantially there were still a need to do more for those who had been the victims.  Child sexual exploitation was a real and present danger and families and parents were becoming more aware of the need to keep children safe.

The Police and Crime Commissioner described the positions he had held over the past twenty five years and how in 2009 he established a charity specifically to help looked after children and as a parent and an uncle he would never ignore something as heinous as child sexual exploitation.

Describing his position as lead member for Children and Young People’s Services for the Council and his work with outstanding individuals, the Police and Crime Commissioner expressed his regret that he was not made aware of the sheer scale of the child exploitation problem as evidenced by the Jay Report and he reiterated his sincere apologies to the victims and their families in the part he played in the systemic failure of the system in letting them down.

The Police and Crime Commissioner hoped that the improvements already made would be built on further.  The Jay Report highlighted the sheer scale of the abuse and said that the Council and other agencies should have done more and identified financial pressures of safeguarding during that time.  The report made no direct criticism of the Cabinet Member or the Police and Crime Commissioner, but acknowledged that child sexual exploitation was a priority for South Yorkshire Police and would be endorsed and, indeed, was being taken forward, which was also endorsed by the Police and Crime Panel for the past  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.