The senior management of Oldham Council and Greater Manchester Police must take responsibility for the failings that happened in a series of cases identified in the CSE assurance review, say Oldham Liberal Democrats, ahead of tonight’s [27/06/22] council meeting to discuss the report.

The report identified a series of failings on individual cases, most notably those of Sophie, on the part of Oldham Council staff and police officers.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Sam Al-Hamdani said: “Without responsibility, there is no assurance.

“We have been told that tonight’s meeting will provide information on how processes and procedures at the Council and GMP have changed to ensure this could not happen today. While welcome, I am incredibly frustrated there has been no indication at any point that these failings will result in those concerned being accountable for their actions.

“Social care is a very tough environment, and we are incredibly grateful to people who choose to work in it in order to help those who need it. This must not descend into a witch hunt – but we must have due process and responsibility. We want to hear how this is going to be done.”

The report also indicated that GMP provided very little information to the review, only agreeing a limited release of information in November 2021, nearly two years after the investigation began.

Howard Sykes MBE, Liberal Democrat Group leader, said: “Reading the report and what happened to these girls is deeply upsetting. It was an abuse of trust.

“I do not understand how GMP have failed to provide information to the review. I do not understand how some of these decisions were made. It has left all of us in the dark. That means the report has not yet delivered what it was meant to, and we need to answers to these questions in order for it to do so.

“We will be asking these questions – and many more – tonight.  There must be genuine answers if we are to make any progress towards the restoration of trust as a result of this review.”