Agenda item

To receive a statement from the Leader of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.

The Leader opened his statement by expressing his condolences on the death of Rachael Booth, Head Teacher of The Willows School, Thurcroft, and paid tribute to her contribution to the school community. The Leader also associated himself with the Mayor’s remarks regarding former Councillor John Blackham and extended his condolences to his family and friends.

The Leader highlighted a number of developments since the previous Council meeting, including:

·       Completion of the 850th new Council home delivered through the Council’s housing programme at Larch Road, Maltby.

·       Activities undertaken during Domestic Abuse Awareness Month, including the illumination of the Town Hall in purple to raise awareness of support services and partnership work to tackle domestic abuse.

·       Extended opening hours at the Borough’s four Household Waste Recycling Centres following the insourcing of the service, with sites now open from 9.30am to 5.00pm daily, including bank holidays.

·       The successful conclusion of the Library Service’s Summer Reading Challenge and the introduction of new free holiday activity places during the October half-term break.

The Leader also provided an update in relation to child sexual exploitation and the forthcoming national inquiry into grooming gangs. He reflected on the impact of the Alexis Jay Report and the significant improvements made by the Council and its partners since 2014, including support provided to survivors, action taken against perpetrators and improvements within Children's Services.

Members were informed that the Council had applied for "core participant" status. The Leader explained that this status would enable the Council to play a more active role in the inquiry, including making submissions and suggesting lines of enquiry. He clarified that Rotherham had not been designated as an area for a local inquiry but stated that the Council’s experience and improvement journey placed it in a strong position to contribute to the national review.

The Leader concluded by reaffirming the Council’s ongoing commitment to preventing child sexual exploitation, maintaining high standards of safeguarding, and ensuring that the lessons learned in Rotherham continue to inform improvements both locally and nationally.

The Leader of the Majority Opposition Group, Councillor Zach Collingham, was invited to respond to the statement. He thanked the Mayor, Members and officers for their support following the sudden death of Councillor John Blackham and paid tribute to his life and service. He reflected on Councillor Blackham's professional background, dedication to public service, contribution to scrutiny and audit work, and commitment to his community. Members heard that Councillor Blackham was widely respected across the Council for his measured, constructive approach and his determination to make a positive difference for residents. Councillor Collingham concluded by stating that Councillor Blackham would be greatly missed and remembered for his contribution to the Borough.

The update regarding the National Child Sexual Exploitation Inquiry and the Council's application for core participant status was welcomed, with Councillor Collingham noting that Rotherham's experience and transformation over the past decade placed it in a strong position to contribute to the inquiry and support learning nationally.

Referring to the Council Plan performance report, Councillor Collingham expressed concern regarding delays to a number of key projects and initiatives, including road safety schemes, flood alleviation work, delivery of community facilities and fleet replacement programmes. He asked the Leader to identify any common causes for delays and the steps being taken to improve delivery against agreed timescales.

The Leader of the Opposition also highlighted the findings of the recent school road safety scrutiny review and sought assurance that its recommendations would be implemented swiftly and within an ambitious timescale. He stated that the length of time taken to complete the review was unacceptable.

Finally, he raised concerns regarding declining public confidence in the Council's responsiveness to residents' concerns, citing communication issues relating to a flooded pedestrian underpass. He asked what action would be taken to improve communication with residents and address what he described as persistent shortcomings in keeping the public informed about service issues and delays.

In response, the Leader acknowledged frustrations regarding delays to individual projects but emphasised that the Council was currently delivering one of the largest capital programmes in its history, involving significant investment and physical change across the Borough. He stated that, given the scale of the programme and reductions in staffing capacity over many years, some delays were unavoidable, although efforts continued to ensure resources were directed to priority areas.

The Leader advised that progress was being made on a number of schemes referenced by the Leader of the Opposition, including road safety initiatives and projects in Maltby, and noted that activity was continuing across a wide range of capital projects alongside the successful delivery of many major commitments.

Referring to the School Road Safety Scrutiny Review, the Leader welcomed the work undertaken and confirmed that the recommendations would be considered. However, he questioned the underlying premise that school road safety should be treated separately from wider road safety concerns, suggesting that available resources should be prioritised across all road safety issues. He highlighted the additional investment that had been made in road safety measures and noted recent funding secured through the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to support future improvements.

The Leader concluded by confirming that staffing capacity and resource allocation would continue to be reviewed as part of the Council’s budget-setting process to support the effective delivery of priorities and projects.

Questions from Members were invited. Councillors Adam Carter, Baum-Dixon, Fisher, Steele, Reynolds, Harrison, Tarmey, Ismail and Ball paid tribute to Councillor Blackham, echoing the comments made by the Mayor, Leader and Leader of the Opposition. Tributes were also paid to Rachael Booth.

In response to the comments from the Leader of the Opposition regarding the Scrutiny Review, Councillor Steele stated that, as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, he had instructed officers to ensure that reviews took no longer than three months to complete.

Councillor Reynolds asked if there were any written contracts detailing how durable or how long a road repair should be expected to last as he had noticed many issues with repairs to roundabouts. He also asked when decisive action on grooming gangs would be taken and referenced correspondence with the Muslim Council of Great Britain.

The Leader confirmed that a written response would be provided regarding the durability of road repairs.

In response to Councillor Reynolds’ comments, Councillor Ismail stated that CSE affected every single culture and religion, not just Islam.

The Leader responded to the comments made by Councillors Reynolds and Ismail on the grooming gangs. He acknowledged that the majority of perpetrators involved in the model of child sexual exploitation examined by the Jay Report in Rotherham were men from the Pakistani heritage community. He noted that similar patterns of offending had been identified in some other areas of the country. However, he emphasised that child sexual exploitation and abuse take a variety of forms and are perpetrated by individuals, mainly men, from a range of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds.

The Leader stated that it was important to recognise all forms of offending while remaining clear-eyed about the evidence relating to specific patterns of abuse. He further highlighted the support received from local Muslim communities and mosques since publication of the reports, noting their consistent condemnation of child sexual exploitation, their rejection of such behaviour as contrary to religious values, and their commitment to ensuring it was not tolerated within their communities. The Leader expressed his appreciation for their continued support in promoting these messages.

Councillor Harrison also asked whether the inquiry would consider issues of accountability and whether any related proceedings or actions would be undertaken as part of the review.

In response to Councillor Harrison, the Leader advised that decisions about accountability and any resulting action would be a matter for the national inquiry itself. Previous attempts to hold individuals accountable had been constrained by employment law and other legal limitations, although some individuals had subsequently left their positions and, in certain cases, been subject to professional regulatory processes. The Leader stated that he believed there should be a wider national discussion about the threshold for criminal liability where there had been serious and sustained systemic failures in public services. While recognising that individuals should not be held criminally liable for isolated mistakes, he suggested that consideration should be given to whether those with statutory responsibility for services should face greater accountability where significant failings persisted over a prolonged period. He added that the inquiry was likely to provide a degree of public accountability through the examination of evidence and questioning of individuals involved, although he could not comment on what further action, if any, the inquiry might ultimately recommend.

Councillor Ball raised concerns about the affordability of running newly built all-electric homes, particularly those fitted with air source heat pumps, electric vehicle charging points and electric showers but not solar panels. Referring to the Council’s previous declaration of a Climate Emergency, Councillor Ball questioned whether residents could face fuel poverty during winter months due to high electricity usage and asked that the matter be reviewed.

In response, the Leader stated that he understood that new-build properties fitted with air source heat pumps were generally constructed to higher insulation standards than older properties undergoing retrofit works, resulting in greater energy efficiency. Through the Warm Homes Programme, hundreds of Council properties across the Borough were currently being retrofitted with solar panels, with the programme expected to expand to thousands of homes in future phases. The Leader emphasised that improving energy efficiency across the Council's housing stock remained an ongoing priority.

It was confirmed that a written response would be provided to the specific question raised by Councillor Ball.