£60,000 to help child sex exploitation victims
COUNCIL CONTRACT WILL RUN FOR AT LEAST TWELVE MONTHS FOLLOWING CONVICTION OF GROOMING GANG
KIRKLEES Council is still pouring money into helping survivors of nonrecent child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the district.
The authority has approved £60,000 to help people affected by the scandal, which resulted in jail sentences three years ago for a 20-strong grooming gang.
Another 11 men go to trial next year and in 2023.
The 12-month contract began on October 1 and will run until September 30, next year.
The council can decide to extend the contract for up to two years, ending in 2024.
The move has been welcomed by Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman, who said the council was right to commit resources to teenagers and young women who had been “dreadfully abused in the worst possible way”.
He said: “Being vigilant and supportive is the very least that we owe to them.”
The spending represents the latest stage in the council’s ongoing response to the legacy of CSE, which was highlighted in November 2016 by a scathing 38-page inspection report.
That report, by education watchdog Ofsted, said services for vulnerable children in Kirklees were
“inadequate, due to serious widespread failures which result in some children not being protected or having their needs met.”
It revealed that the Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board had raised the alarm about social work standards in August 2015, prompting then-chief executive Adrian Lythgo to launch an independent review.
A review of 226 cases found 10% were of concern, with urgent action required to help some children.
Since 2014 senior figures in the children’s services team have been replaced.
Children’s Services staff on Kirklees Council worked closely with West Yorkshire Police on its investigation into allegations of historic grooming and child sexual abuse in Huddersfield.
That investigation, dubbed Operation Tendersea, led to the conviction and jailing of 20 men for a total of 257 years at Leeds Crown Court in 2018.