Ministers challenged over South Yorkshire Police abuse record

Figures which emerged last which showed South Yorkshire Police charged one person for every 16 complaints about child sexual exploitation over a two year period.

The force had the worst record out of 10 asked for their figures by the BBC, with the average across the other nine areas around one-in-five.

South Yorkshire Police’s record on tackling child sexual exploitation has been under scrutiny since the publication of the Jay report in 2014 into child abuse in Rotherham.

Lord Scriven said: “These figures are completely unacceptable and show South Yorkshire Police and the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner are failing to act fast enough to deal with this serious problem as swiftly as it needs to be.

“I will be challenging the government on what they are going to do and stop sitting on their hands while South Yorkshire Police are continued to allowed to fail to keep our children safe.”

The South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner has previously said the force is making progress on tackling child sexual exploitation and money has been invested in its public protection unit.

A recent report from the police inspectorate found the force was now “well-prepared” to tackles child sexual exploitation.

The Jay report found there had been 1,400 victims of abuse over a 10 year period in Rotherham and highlighted failings of the police and Rotherham Council.