Saddleworth councillors welcome national inquiry into child sexual exploitation

SADDLEWORTH councillors have welcomed the announcement of a national public inquiry into child sexual exploitation (CSE).

And Max Woodvine believes it must visit Oldham and look at present day as well as historic cases.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the full statutory inquiry into grooming gangs after accepting the recommendations of an audit by Baroness Louise Casey.

She told how a national probe is required and one will now cover England and Wales.

And Saddleworth South Cllr Woodvine, whose Conservative colleagues Luke Lancaster and Pam Byrne represent Saddleworth North, hopes it looks locally.

He also criticised the Prime Minister and Oldham’s Labour politicians for ‘frustrating progress.’

He said: “Oldham Conservatives have long called for a public inquiry.

“It must visit Oldham and other places across the north, it must have a present-day focus alongside assessing historic CSE and it must hold guilty persons and authorities to account for their failings.

“Whilst we welcome this announcement from the Prime Minister, let us not forget that his Labour Party – at both local and national levels – have frustrated progress.

“In recent years, Labour Councillors and MPs have consistently voted down proposals for a national inquiry and have only now come to this conclusion as they cannot hide from the Casey Report recommendation.

“All credit goes to campaigners who have forced action through collective pressure. This is, of course, only the start though.”

The national inquiry has also been welcomed by Saddleworth West and Lees’ Liberal Democrat Sam Al-Hamdani.

He said: “We are finally getting to the right place, even if the journey has been unnecessarily drawn out.

“It is vital that survivors are put first, and that the two inquiries must work together to make sure that people are not forced to relive their experiences to two different sets of people.

“This is about delivering justice, but it must do so in a way which is always aware of the trauma that survivors have already gone through and put their care first.”

The leader of Oldham’s Liberal Democrats – whose group also includes Saddleworth West and Lees’ Alicia Marland and Mark Kenyon, Saddleworth North’s Garth Harkness and Saddleworth South’s Helen Bishop – also welcomed the announcement.

But Cllr Howard Sykes believes the Labour Party ‘caved,’ saying: “For years, we have been fighting for a proper public inquiry into historic child sex exploitation and after many years spent blocking those efforts, the Labour Party have now caved to pressure and accepted that we need an inquiry.

“We need to be frank, we should have got to this stage years ago, the Conservatives also blocked a public enquiry before Labour.

“And every day wasted has been another day of pain and frustration for survivors where their government has failed to listen to them.”

“The details of this inquiry will be key.  We need to ensure that victims are listened to and that criminals face justice.

“And crucially, action needs to be taken against individuals who are found to have failed in their duties.  Until that happens, public trust will not return.”

Leader of Oldham Council, Labour’s Cllr Arooj Shah, said Baroness Casey’s report and the inquiry that will follow should impact both nationally and locally.

She said: “In Oldham, we recognise the failings of the past and are determined not to repeat them.

“We apologise again to those who were failed and thank the survivors who have been bravely telling their stories to not let these injustices go forgotten.

“Baroness Casey has shone a bright light on uncomfortable and distressing issues that will now help us navigate a path to protect our children.

“Anyone who cares about the safety of children should read and digest this report. All agencies with responsibility for safeguarding children should implement its recommendations in full.

“Child Sexual abuse is perpetrated by people of all races and religions and inflicted on people of all races and religions.

“But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask questions about any drivers of this very specific type of offending. We need to do more to understand why this particular pattern of abuse is more prevalent among some groups of men.

“To say so is not racist. Nobody I have spoken to, from any community, wants to see anything other than for these men to be punished to the full extent of the law.

“Our priority now is to work with the home office to understand how our local inquiry is aligned with the national inquiry to get the answers that survivors and those affected so desperately want and deserve.”