Child sex scandal town, to kids’ Culture Capital

A TOWN at the centre of one of Britain’s most notorious child sex scandals has been named as the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture.

But the Government is reviewing the decision to award Rotherham £1.8 million in taxpayer cash for the year-long initiative in 2025. The South Yorkshire town hit the news in 2011 when allegations emerged of widespread child sexual exploitation.

It was described at the time as one of the biggest child protection scandals in British history after it was revealed children in care homes were being groomed.

A report into Rotherham’s handling of the incident concluded an estimated 1,400 children had been sexually abused in the town between 1997 and 2013, predominantly by British-Pakistani men.

The city has now been selected as the inaugural Children’s Capital of Culture in 2025 – described by the local authority as ‘365 extraordinary days of imagination, creativity and community... packed with music and magic’.

As well as the £1.8 million from the Cultural Recovery Fund, it was due to receive £13,600 from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and has been awarded £76,100 in National Lottery grants. Yesterday, after The Mail on Sunday raised questions, LevellingUp Secretary Greg Clark said he would look again at the funding, agreed by his predecessor Michael Gove last November.

Julie Dalton, of the Children’s Capital of Culture programme board, said it is ‘the boldest demonstration of Rotherham’s commitment to empowering children to have a voice and play an active role in its future’.

A spokesman for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: ‘The Secretary of State is reviewing the award.’