The sexual exploitation of at least 1,400 children over 16 years in Rotherham has promoted tough questions for council and health officials in Brighton and Hove.
Councillor Graham Cox raised the issue at a meeting at Hove Town Hall after being told that partnership working was strong in Brighton and Hove.
Councillor Cox, the former police commander in Hove and now the Conservatives’ parliamentary candidate at the general election next year, said: “I always worry when I hear about our wonderful partnership working.
“I’m sure they had excellent partnership working in Rotherham and Mid Staffs – and with the private sector in places like Winterbourne View.”
At a meeting of the Brighton and Hove City Council Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee he asked how child protection performance was monitored.
Councillor Cox said that politicians had probably been assured by officials in Rotherham that there were strategies in place and everything was working as it should do.
He added: “We can’t shy away from that and I guess it’s down to us.
The council’s executive director of children’s services Pinaki Ghoshal said: “We do have excellent assurance mechanisms in the city.”
He said that performance was monitored by, among others, the local authority (the council) and the Local Safeguarding Children Board.
Mr Ghoshal said that the Health and Wellbeing Board was part of that system.
He said: “Child sexual exploitation is happening everywhere and anywhere that says it’s not isn’t facing up to reality.
“What matters is what you do about it. We face up to it and we have open communication.”
He said that there were checks and balances across the system, including provisions for whistleblowers.
The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) went live last week, he said. This brought social workers and police officers together.
He added: “It doesn’t stop that activity (sex abuse). What it does is enable it to be identified and dealt with quickly.”
The council’s adult director of social services Denise D’Souza said: “Strong partnerships mean we have the ability to call it when things are going wrong, deal with it and move on. We have that.”
The chief executive of the Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Geraldine Hoban said that below average cancer care was an example. She said that it was an area of concern that had been flagged up, analysed in detail and was being tackled.
Green councillor Geoffrey Bowden said: “There are shortcomings. The police, for example, are not represented on the Health and Wellbeing Board.
“We’ve got 470 children in care. How many of those have been victims of sexual abuse?”
Fellow Green, Councillor Sven Rufus, who chairs the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said: “I will explore how we can have greater confidence on this issue.”
