YP Letters: Disgraceful decision not to bring charges over Rotherham abuse scandal

NO charges will be brought against any senior figures at Rotherham Council despite “various and substantial organisational failings” that left 1,400 children at risk of sexual abuse, a set of reports has concluded (The Yorkshire Post, September 7).

The decision, in six long-awaited reports, was rightly condemned by the Rotherham MP Sarah Champion as a “complete wasted opportunity 
to allow the town to move forward”.

The reports concluded that no senior council managers from 1997 to 2013 should face any action despite the independent experts finding “there may have been errors of judgment or missed opportunities”. That is an understatement!

A disgusting but probably predictable outcome. The victims continue to get no 
justice.

Thank goodness for Alexis Jay, Andrew Norfolk, Louise Casey and others shining the light on things to expose the wrongdoing and vile treatment of young people.

Those who have shown utter contempt for the investigation by refusing to co-operate or be interviewed show no remorse for their failures and sheer incompetence.

No one internally has integrity or guts to stand up and be counted to lift the lid on this disgraceful chapter that contaminates our council’s reputation. It’s carry on regardless!

Hub move is unwelcome

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon.

JEFF Pearey, director of JLL, has been working on behalf of the Cabinet Office on the new “Government Hub” in Leeds, to where some 6,000 civil servants from around the region will be relocated (The Yorkshire Post, September 7).

He stated that this is the largest ever office pre-let in Leeds and is a major economic boost for the city.

That has to be a rather insensitive comment bearing in mind that it will do the exact opposite to places such as Bradford and Shipley, who will be losing around 2,000 jobs to this new “Hub”.

Bradford and Shipley are in dire need of new employment opportunities, and certainly cannot afford the loss of so many jobs.

It surely cannot be cheaper to rent letting space in the centre of Leeds rather than other alternatives?

This move is an unwelcome and unnecessary action which totally disregards the needs of the wider area, and really should be deplored.

An example to the Steel City

From: Gary Wallace, Neepsend Lane, Sheffield.

I RECENTLY visited the lovely market town of Bakewell in the Peak District (a lovely one-hour journey on bus service 218).

I was struck by two things about the town in comparison to Sheffield.

The first is that despite being relatively small town (Bakewell has a population of around 12,000 compared to over 500,000 in Sheffield) somehow Bakewell has an outdoor market on market days almost twice the size of the one in Sheffield city centre outside Moor Market.

Bakewell also has a library open 48 hours a week, seven hours more than Sheffield Central Library.

The library in Bakewell also opens six mornings a week, compared with only five mornings a week for Sheffield Central Library.

A simple common-sense approach would be to open Sheffield Central Library at 10am each day instead of the current 9.30am, therefore restoring six-mornings-a-week opening without the need for extra staff hours.

If a small market town in Derbyshire can manage to open its main library six mornings a week, surely Sheffield can too?

Get outdoors more often

From: E Firth, Wellington Street, Wilsden, West Yorkshire.

THE world has voted us Brits, alongside the Germans, its ugliest people. Sadly it’s true. Looks are down to ancestry, diet and lifestyle, there’s nothing we can do about ancestry but the rest is up to us.

In contrast, Western Australians have been voted the best lookers. I lived eight years in WA and know that the majority of Westralians are of British and, in fact, English descent.

Too many British youngsters spend far too much time indoors. This gives them the British look, pasty-faced and ill looking. This pasty, sick look was the first thing I noticed when I returned from WA. So, parents, encourage your offspring to get outdoors more often. They’re a bit of a mess.

Languages can be invaluable

From: DS Boyes, Upper Rodley Lane, Leeds.

ARE concerns over the lack of foreign language teaching in schools valid? In the 1950s first year at grammar school, both Latin and French were taught, with German later for those interested.

I confess to not being fluent in either, but what I did learn then has proved invaluable over the years, such as pronouncing words correctly, knowing the numbers and the days of the week, and months of the year.

N Korea’s right to defend itself

From: John Appleyard, Firthcliffe Parade, Liversedge.

THE United States Government has been threatening North Korea with nuclear war since 1950.

I don’t take sides on this issue – I am against nuclear weapons full stop – but I do accept that a country has the right to defend itself from attack.