Lib Dem Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani has insisted that the final, damning report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) is on the agenda for the first meeting of Oldham Council’s steering group tasked with tackling child sex exploitation in the borough.
Oldham’s senior leadership team have already agreed to Liberal Democrat requests to ensure that any relevant recommendations from the IICSA reports are put into place in the borough.
Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “This report shows that child sex abuse is a national problem that has been catastrophically under-reported, and the failings that were seen in Oldham have been also seen in cities and towns all across the UK.
“We need to support those incredibly committed social workers, who we do have in Oldham, to really make changes that stop children in this town being left open to abuse.”
Among the recommendations in the report are better registration of staff in care homes, and better use of DBS checks. It also includes a national redress scheme, and a law making it a criminal offence to fail to make mandatory reports about child sexual abuse.
Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “While many of these recommendations address how things work at the national level, there are recommendations which we can ensure are already in place in Oldham.
“I want to see Oldham as somewhere that other towns and cities across the UK look at and realise that change is possible.
“Children have been failed. Too often we have had half-hearted answers to the problems that this town places. This is an opportunity for real improvements. We can’t and won’t accept anything less.”