The town has been highlighted as needing attention in a new report released today by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary & Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The report details the extent of the failings by public services, with the scale of child sexual exploitation and abuse in the town attracting a “great deal” of public attention.

A 2014 independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, commissioned by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) found that at least 1,400 children had been subjected to serious sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

Collective failures by RMBC and South Yorkshire Police (SYP) were identified, with Dame Louise Casey DBE CB’s investigation into RMBC in September 2014 finding a Council “in denial”.

The report, presented to Parliament in February 2015, concluded that child abuse and exploitation was happening on a national scale, but that Rotherham was different in that “it was repeatedly told by its own youth service what was happening and it chose, not only to not act but to close that service down”.

An independent criminal investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) into non-familial child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 began in December 2014.

This investigation is currently in its ninth year and has cost approximately £70m. 

HMICFRS said as part of their inspection, they found there was a well-established, multi-agency safeguarding approach between South Yorkshire Police and its safeguarding partners for responding to child sexual exploitation.

A member of a safeguarding children partnership in South Yorkshire said: “You have to dig to find child sexual exploitation and group-based child sexual exploitation. 

“In Rotherham, we work with the police and when we dig, we dig together.”

Despite changes being evident, HMICFRS claims lessons aren’t fully learnt. 

A clear definition of group-based child sexual exploitation is not apparent, with HMICFRS stating this “creates difficulties when trying to assess the nature and scale of offending”.

Shortcomings were identified when it came to the way the police “identified, measured and analysed data and exchanged information with each other about group‑based offending”.

In April 2023, the government announced their intention to establish a new child sexual exploitation task force. The impact of this remains to be seen.