No apology as Wright resigns

Why did it take so long? To compound matters, there was not the slightest hint of apology in a 258-word self-aggrandising statement – and traces of humility, another trait which has been largely absent, were few and far between as Mr Wright wrote about the need for child sex exploitation to be discussed “without distraction”.

The now former crime tsar is totally undeserving of sympathy and it is critically important that he receives no “golden goodbye” – he gave up this right when he refused to resign after Professor Alexis Jay’s inquiry revealed Mr Wright’s shortcomings when he headed children’s services in Rotherham and his abject failure to defend the interests of 1,400 young people who were groomed, and abused, over a 16-year period. Any payment will simply add insult to injury.

Only Mr Wright can explain how on earth he thought he was the person to restore public confidence in South Yorkshire Police – this misguided belief is, frankly, indicative of the growing preponderance of well-remunerated public sector officials and elected politicians who are unwilling to accept personal responsibility for their litany of failings.

He is not the only senior official to be culpable for an unforgivable betrayal of Rotherham’s most vulnerable residents – longstanding council leader Roger Stone has already quit, council chief executive Martin Kimber is stepping aside shortly and it is now inconceivable that children’s services director Joyce Thacker can continue to defy the will of Parliament after being ordered to resign by the Home Affairs Select Committee a week ago. A long shadow also hangs over Meredydd Hughes and David Crompton, the past and present chief constables of South Yorkshire Police.

As the process of electing Shaun Wright’s successor begins, it can only be hoped that preferment is given to those candidates with proven experience.

After all, South Yorkshire would not be in this mess if the Labour Party had been more diligent with its selection processes in 2012, when its members must have known about the scale of the Rotherham abuse.

The bottom line

Governance of school academies

LIKE THE Home Affairs Select Committee which played a critical role in the downfall of the aforementioned Shaun Wright, the Education Select Committee – chaired by Beverley’s MP Graham Stuart – is proving equally adept at upholding the public interest.

The latest example is today’s firm but fair report into school academies – and the need for greater governance over their financial undertakings. In the wake of the allegations levelled against Kings Science Academy in Bradford, this report could not be more timely, or necessary. As today’s findings make clear, most academy trusts “are staffed by honourable people working hard to address educational under-performance” and that “cases of deliberate fraud are rare”.

Yet MPs do highlight a number of loopholes that need to be closed, not least the circumstances “where an individual on the board of a Trust benefits personally or via the companies”. Given that Mr Stuart’s committee has so little confidence in the regional commissioners being appointed to oversee academies, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan may have to act. For, if those individuals running such schools are motivated by altruism rather than the financial bottom line, they will have nothing to fear from such a safeguard.

In the slow lane

Piecemeal A64 improvements

PERHAPS NORTH Yorkshire will have to be annexed by Scotland if it is to secure funding for the long-overdue upgrading of the main A64 road from York to Scarborough and the East Coast.

For, while money continues to be lavished upon Scotland ahead of tomorrow’s independence vote, successive governments continue to procrastinate over the fate of a road that holds the key to the continued resurgence of Yorkshire’s coastal and rural economies.

Yes, the latest improvements will be welcomed – but they are still piecemeal and the inclusion of the A64 in the Highways Agency’s South Pennines Route Strategy smacks of more talk and painfully slow progress in the longer term.