The final two reports of the Home Office-sponsored Independent Investigation into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) are due to be released on February 1 (Child Sexual Exploitation by Organised Networks) and March 1 (Residential Schools).
Following conversations between Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, senior Council management, and the Managing Director of Children & Young People, it has been agreed that following the publication of the report into CSE in Oldham at the end of this month, the Oldham Children’s Safeguarding Partnership will undertake a joint workshop with the Adult Safeguarding Partnership, which will include learning from IICSA, and inform the development of Oldham’s Complex Safeguarding Strategy.
Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “The Council must be ready to accept the outcome of the report into CSE in Oldham. This is just one of the ways in which it will take practical action to ensure that children in the borough are better protected in future.
“The evidence presented to IICSA has been harrowing, and it is vital that every Council in the country learns from the mistakes of the past.”
Councillor Al-Hamdani has written again to Oldham Council’s Managing Director for Children and Young People to ensure that the final reports will be taken into consideration at the workshop. The Liberal Democrat group on Oldham Council ensured that any relevant recommendations from the IICSA reports would be implemented in the borough.
“We expect the report into historic CSE in Oldham to be extremely thorough, and from seeing previous similar reports elsewhere, it is likely to be sobering reading,” continued Councillor Al-Hamdani.
“These crimes cut to the heart of a community. They break down trust, and leave people feeling betrayed. We have been working to ensure that the Council is changing its practices for the better, even before the report is issued, and will continue to do so long after this report has come out. Everyone must be vigilant to ensure we are protecting survivors of abuse, and ensuring more people are protected from this in the future.”