Ofsted criticised over Rotherham inspection failings

The Community and Local Government Committee said inspectors’ visits failed to “get under the skin” of what was happening at Rotherham Borough Council.

The committee found Ofsted did not probe officers enough about the efforts to combat CSE and failed to pick up on the “professional jealousy and incompetence” in the town’s children’s services.

Committee chairman Clive Betts said: “The perpetrators bear ultimate responsibility for the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham.

“But the ineffectiveness of Ofsted’s inspections contributed to a failure to expose the extent of the problem and to detect the council’s ongoing and tragic inability to combat it on the ground.

“The shortcomings in Ofsted’s inspection arrangements until 2013 leave serious concerns that organised child sexual exploitation in other local authorities may have been missed.

“Ofsted’s credibility is now on the line. It says its new inspection arrangements will pick up child sexual exploitation.

“Ofsted now needs to re-inspect all local authorities in England at the earliest opportunity to ensure councils have identified and are tackling child sexual exploitation in their communities.”

The committee’s report backed the Government’s decision to bring commissioners to Rotherham, saying there was no reasonable prospect of the council putting its own house in order.

It also recommended a Louise Casey-like inspection of South Yorkshire Police, which police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings announced on Friday.