To receive questions from members of the public who wish to ask a general question in respect of matters within the Council’s area of responsibility or influence.
Subject to the Chair’s discretion, members of the public may ask one question and one supplementary question, which should relate to the original question and answered received.
Councillors may also ask questions under this agenda item.
Minutes:
(1) Elizabeth started off by expressing concerns regarding a Stage 3 Complaint hearing she had observed the previous week. It was agreed that Elizabeth would email the Leader regarding the matter. Elizabeth then proceeded to ask her question which was, did the Leader feel current services for children at serious risk or currently involved in CSE were now fit for purpose?
The Leader responded by stating that he did think they were fit for purpose based on the information from OFSTED in terms of the inspections they undertake regarding CSE services. OFSTED had reviewed the work done by the Council in regards to Child Protection, with specific reference to CSE, over the past year and the Council had received positive feedback. The Leader stated that the Council was never complacent about the inspection outcomes and if people had specific concerns or thought things were going wrong, the Council would look into those matters.
In her supplementary question, Elizabeth stated that there was still clear evidence that children and parents were being failed and that children were being removed due to future risk. She asked if Rotherham Social Workers were able to see into the future. Elizabeth also explained that victims of CSE were being told that they were not able to identify inappropriate relationships with regards to their own children because they could not identify them when they were children. Elizabeth explained that this was not the case as the victims identified that the relationships were inappropriate but were let down by the authorities. She asked if this meant that Social Workers were unable to act on risk and if so, were their own families being scrutinised like the survivors in Rotherham? A further question was could a timetable be provided for when victims were going to be treated as victims instead of taking the blame for their own abuse?
The Leader explained that whenever a child had to come into the Council’s care, that was based on an assessment of the current circumstances, not a future prediction. All of those decisions were made by the Court after an application from the Council. The Leader stated that if there was cases where children were being inappropriately put into care, particularly in relation to families of CSE survivors, then the Council would like more details on that to be able to scrutinise the situation. The Leader confirmed that he and the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services would be willing to have further conversations with Elizabeth on this matter.