Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to implement the recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham from 1997 to 2013.

Following publication of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, I wrote to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council on 28 August[1]. I asked the Council to provide urgent reassurance about how they are responding to the issues identified in the report in respect of current social work practice. The Council will report to me by 12 September.

It has also been agreed with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector that Rotherham will be the subject of an early inspection of its child protection and looked after children’s services. The Department for Education will not hesitate to take further action if necessary to ensure children are safe.

The specific recommendation for the Department in Professor Jay’s report pertains to the issue of redactions from Serious Case Reviews (SCRs). Our statutory guidance, Working Together 2013, is clear that SCRs should not be written in such a way as to harm the welfare of any child and that will continue to be the case. Redactions in SCRs make them harder to understand and important lessons from them harder to learn, and should only be used where necessary.

[1]www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-edward-timpson-to-rotherham-borough-council