Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Dr O Scargill and seconded by Councillor D Lilly, who reserved the right to speak, that:
This Council endorses the request of colleagues at Oldham Council in their call for a national inquiry into rape gangs and believes it is inappropriate for government ministers to expect local Councils to conduct inquiries of such importance or to be able to appropriately resource them, especially under the current legislation which means any such inquiry would be unable to compel witnesses to give evidence.
Council notes the recent comments of Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the Child Sexual Abuse inquiry established by the Conservative government in 2016, who has said of her review recommendations that “locally people need to step up to the mark and do the things that have been recommended”.
Council therefore agrees to meet this challenge and asks the Mayor to implement all of the Jay Review recommendations that can practicably be adopted locally. The acting Chief Executive should be the named responsible person for their implementation. This should include as a minimum:
· Exploring and implementing ways to make employees aware of the need to report safeguarding concerns to the authority in their roles and private lives.
· Ensuring that all employee contracts are explicit in the requirement for us all to report child sexual exploitation.
· Considering how a mandatory reporting clause can be embedded into Council contracts through procurement processes so that all Council contractors or grant recipients must agree to a mandatory reporting statement.
· An ongoing public communications plan on the best ways to report child sexual exploitation.
Council also asks the Mayor to write to the Prime Minster and the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls to join cross-party calls for a time limited national inquiry into rape gangs.
An amendment was moved by Councillor P Earley and seconded by Councillor C Johnson as follows:
Remove the remainder of the first paragraph after the word “gangs”.
Insert the following text after the second paragraph “The last Conservative government issued an “awful, inconsequential, insubstantial response” in failing to implement the Jay Review findings according to the Professor Alexis Jay chair of the Independent enquiry into Sexual Abuse.
Council notes the current Labour Government are getting on with the job of implementing the recommendations in the Jay Report
In November 2024 the local authorities’ children services were inspected by Ofsted who examined our arrangements in relation to missing and those who experience exploitation. The report recently published (on the 13th January) found our arrangements to be robust, and as a result children were safer because of the work the service is doing. North Tyneside Children’s services were found to be outstanding in all areas.
North Tyneside Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and adults at risk of harm. All staff and volunteers are expected to share this commitment and to familiarise themselves with all relevant policies, procedures, and guidance. Within North Tyneside, safeguarding is everybody’s business. This is expectation is written into all job adverts, and all Council job profiles. In addition, as part of the welcome day staff attend when they join the organisation, this expectation is re-enforced with a section of the day dedicated to everyone’s roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.”
Remove the phrase “Exploring and implementing ways” from the first bullet point.
The amended Motion therefore read:
This Council endorses the request of colleagues at Oldham Council in their call for a national inquiry into rape gangs.
Council notes the recent comments of Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the Child Sexual Abuse inquiry established by the Conservative government in 2016, who has said of her review recommendations that “locally people need to step up to the mark and do the things that have been recommended”.
The last Conservative government issued an “awful, inconsequential, insubstantial response” in failing to implement the Jay Review findings according to the Professor Alexis Jay chair of the Independent enquiry into Sexual Abuse.
Council notes the current Labour Government are getting on with the job of implementing the recommendations in the Jay Report
In November 2024 the local authorities’ children services were inspected by Ofsted who examined our arrangements in relation to missing and those who experience exploitation. The report recently published (on the 13th January) found our arrangements to be robust, and as a result children were safer because of the work the service is doing. North Tyneside Children’s services were found to be outstanding in all areas.
North Tyneside Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and adults at risk of harm. All staff and volunteers are expected to share this commitment and to familiarise themselves with all relevant policies, procedures, and guidance. Within North Tyneside, safeguarding is everybody’s business. This is expectation is written into all job adverts, and all Council job profiles. In addition, as part of the welcome day staff attend when they join the organisation, this expectation is re-enforced with a section of the day dedicated to everyone’s roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.
Council therefore agrees to meet this challenge and asks the Mayor to implement all of the Jay Review recommendations that can practicably be adopted locally. The acting Chief Executive should be the named responsible person for their implementation.
This should include as a minimum:
· Continue to make employees aware of the need to report safeguarding concerns to the authority in their roles and private lives.
· Exploring Ensuring that all employee contracts are explicit in the requirement for us all to report child sexual exploitation.
· Considering how a mandatory reporting clause can be embedded into Council contracts through procurement processes so that all Council contractors or grant recipients must agree to a mandatory reporting statement.
· An ongoing public communications plan on the best ways to report child sexual exploitation.
Council also asks the Mayor to write to the Prime Minster and the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls to join cross-party calls for a time limited national inquiry into rape gangs.
Votes for the Amendment:
Councillors T Bailey, Linda Bell, Louise Bell, P Bunyan, B Burdis, B Clark, K Clark, S Cox, J Cruddas, E Darke, L Darke, J Day, S Day, D Drummond, P Earley, S Graham, C Gray, I Grayson, T Hallway, J Harrison, AHoldsworth, J Hunter, N Huscroft, C Johnson, H Johnson, J Kirwin, F Lott, W Lott, L Marshall, A McMullen, J Montague, J Mudzingwa, T Mulvenna, M Murphy, A Newman, K Nott, J O'Shea, S Phillips, B Pickard, N Redfearn, W Samuel, J Sharp, J Shaw, A Spowart, J Walker and J Webster.
Votes against the Amendment:
Councillors J Bartoli, L Bartoli, L Bones, J Johnsson, D Lilly, I McAlpine, C McGinty and Dr O Scargill.
The amendment was approved by 46 votes to 8 votes.
The Substantive Motion was approved unanimously by 54 votes.