Councillors in Oldham are proposing to create a 'victims charter' and adopt a mandatory duty to report concerns of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
A motion, due to be debated at a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (12 July) wants a compulsory duty to report safeguarding concerns enshrined in the Code of Conduct for elected members, and consultation on the duty for officials employed by the council.
Due to be moved by council leader Arooj Shah, and seconded by Councillor Shaid Mushtaq, it also wants the chief executive to write to the Home Office to request recommendations from a national review over child sexual abuse are accepted.
Locally, they want to develop and adopt a ‘Victims and Survivors Charter’ in Oldham in consultation with victim and survivor groups.
This would outline the rights and support provided to those affected by child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the requirements placed on officials in administering and investigating reports of abuse.
The motion comes just over a year on from the publication of the assurance review into allegations of child sexual exploitation, and political cover-ups, in the borough in the 2000s.
That report, published in June 2022, was damning of failures by both police and Oldham council to protect vulnerable young people from abuse in the years 2011 to 2014, and in a specific case dating back to 2005. However, the review team found no evidence of a widespread cover-up of sexual exploitation.
The newly tabled motion also references the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, a national inquiry set up to examine how the country’s institutions handled their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse.
The Labour motion reads: “This council notes that the findings in the Oldham assurance review into historic safeguarding practices in Oldham found a clear political commitment and a sustained attempt to develop best practice in addressing the threat of child sexual exploitation.
“This council believes that this commitment was shared by many dedicated frontline workers working hard to protect vulnerable young people.
“It was clear however that there were unacceptable systemic failures to provide support and justice to victims and survivors, and to hold offenders to account for the abuse they carried out.
“This council believes that the findings of the national Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse further demonstrated a failure to provide support and justice to victims and survivors across the country, and to hold offenders to account for the abuse they carried out.
“This council believes that public confidence is essential in combating child sexual abuse and exploitation, and that public awareness and transparency on the characteristics of abuse and how it presents in various forms, are important to the public identifying indicators and patterns of potential abuse when it takes place, and in reporting it for investigation.”
It also wants support from the government for the final stage assurance review announced by mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, which includes looking at ‘current operational practice across key agencies’.
The full council meeting is due to take place from 6pm at the Civic Centre.
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