Rotherham grooming gang claims rejected by report

In 2014, the Jay Report found at least 1,400 girls were subjected to sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013

Claims that widespread child sexual abuse "may be occurring on the same scale as the past" in Rotherham are unfounded, a review has found.

Conservative councillors claimed that grooming gangs still operating in the town were being ignored by police and the wider local authority.

In response, officials from the ruling Labour group and South Yorkshire Police commissioned an independent review.

It found the specific allegations were "not founded".

The claims, made last November, included suggestions that teenage girls were being sold for sex from a takeaway shop and phones were being given to young girls by Asian men.

A working group of Conservative councillors said it had found "multiple examples of active grooming and Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in multiple locations across Rotherham".

Scale of Rotherham CSE 'ignored' claim councillors

The claims echoed the findings of 2014's Jay Report, which detailed how at least 1,400 children were raped, trafficked and abused in the town between 1997 and 2013.

But Rotherham's Safeguarding Children Partnership, which published its review last week, found the police and council's actions and responses to the group's new concerns were "effective and robust".

It said: "The review team has found no evidence that CSE may be occurring on the same scale as the past", and the team "found no new evidence that police in Rotherham currently deny that CSE is a continuing problem".

The review found very few areas where the strategy to prevent CSE could be tighter.

Its findings were discussed at a weekly group chaired by police and other agencies, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Accusations were raised about young girls being sold for sex

Councillor Zachary Collingham, deputy leader of the Rotherham Conservative group, said his fellow councillors would continue to work on further improvements to services. 

"While the review does provide reassurance, it also identifies areas for improvement.

"These include public reporting processes, how CSE is scrutinised and maximising the voice of survivors; just some of the areas we raised in our report," he added.

The report will go before the council's overview and scrutiny committee on Friday.