Borough probe into child exploitation risk

South Ribble's ruling Labour group has charged a council committee with looking into grooming

The risk posed by organised child sexual exploitation (CSE) in part of Lancashire is to be investigated.

The decision comes after a political clash over whether South Ribble Borough Council should call on the government to set up a fresh national inquiry into grooming gangs.

Conservative opposition group member Mathew Forshaw had asked the authority to formally request the move, which ministers ruled out earlier this year on the basis that the recommendations of a previous nationwide child abuse probe had yet to be implemented.

In response, South Ribble's ruling Labour group has charged a council committee with looking into the matter at a local level.

Reducing the risk

Councillor Forshaw told a meeting of the full council that it was difficult to obtain statistics regarding grooming and CSE in the borough, making it "practically impossible to find out if this has been – or is still – happening in South Ribble".

Bringing a notice of motion on the subject, Mr Forshaw said a national investigation should include "a comprehensive review of any grooming gang activity" in Lancashire.

Cabinet member for finance Matthew Tomlinson said he believed the council should only concern itself with national issues if it can "show there's a direct impact on the people of South Ribble".

To that end, he suggested Mr Forshaw's motion be referred to South Ribble's community and external scrutiny committee for it to consider how best to "evaluate the risk" of child grooming in the district.

Mr Tomlinson said the cross-party group should then "explore how this council can be confident it is playing its part in ensuring that all possible protections are being offered by the wide range of organisations that work with children across our borough".

He added that "having formed a view" on the matter, the committee should report its findings to the full council - including any recommendations for further reducing the risk to South Ribble's children - and indicate whether the authority ought to push for a national inquiry.

Lancashire Police is not aware of evidence of orchestrated abuse at any sort of scale taking place within South Ribble, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), lasted seven years and its final report was published in 2022.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the government would, before Easter, lay out "a clear timetable for taking forward the 20 recommendations" from the report.