We need action on child sexual abuse now - Jake Richards MP

In Rotherham, the widespread child sex abuse which took place across 15 years still haunts local communities. Professionals and those in power turning a blind eye to the abuse of 1,400 young girls, some as young as 11, is a national scandal.

In cases involving British-Pakistani men, the authorities failed to act because of fears of appearing racist. This is simply not acceptable – and in our town, there has been important improvements in child protection led by Chris Read, the leader of the Council.

But this is a national scandal and an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse was launched in 2015 to reflect that.

This inquiry heard from over 700 witnesses, 24 research reports and 2 million pages of evidence, a final report was published in 2022 and set out 20 recommendations.

And the last Conservative Government chose to implement none of them. No progress was made. The report, and the victim testimony, sat gathering dust. This cannot happen again.

There are children today who are being failed because of the last Government’s inaction. Our immediate priority must be to implement the recommendations of the last review before we commission new avenues of enquiry.

I agree no stone should be left unturned and there is a case for a further national inquiry at the appropriate moment.

But another national inquiry could take several years when many victim groups tell us they want justice – not further delays and the requirement for victims to give often upsetting evidence once more.

It’s not just me who says this. The independent chair of the review, Professor Alexis Jay, has urged politicians to get on with it. Andrew Norfolk, the journalist whose work uncovered the grooming scandal here in Rotherham, has also made clear that action is required now, rather than another inquiry lasting several years.

In Rotherham, we have had two important inquiries into these heinous crimes, and the recommendations have been implemented, and improvements seen.

Last week the Labour Government announced we are committed implementing all the recommendations set out in the Jay report. My view is that the absolute priority for this Government should be acting on these recommendations as soon as possible. I will be spending my time in Parliament urging them to do so and calling them out if they do not.

These recommendations include mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, a national financial compensation scheme for abuse victims and the creation of a dedicated Child Protection Authority with the powers to inspect any institution associated with children.

Frankly, it is disgraceful these changes have not been made already, more than a decade after the grooming gangs scandal in Rotherham came to national attention.

Implementing these reforms come alongside our child safeguarding bill, which include removing parents automatic right to take their children out of school, if that young person is suspected of being at risk of significant harm. This reform will help stop suspected abuse taking place behind closed doors.

There is more to do: one major challenge we face is the complete lack of safe and secure accommodation for children in care after 14 years of underfunding councils. Without enough secure homes, many children in care are left in unregulated units, deemed to be at serious risk of self-harm and sexual exploitation.

If we don’t provide safe homes, much of the rest of our work will be left redundant. Another nettle we need to grasp is the role of tech businesses: we should tighten Ofcom rules on age verification to protect children from online grooming.

We don’t have time to wait for another inquiry to conclude. For the most vulnerable in our society, we need concrete change now.