
There were heated exchanges as councillors debated calls for Blackpool to be part of a national inquiry into child grooming gangs while campaigners looked on from the public gallery.
Despite warning the resort has many of the risks associated with child sexual exploitation, Conservative group leader Coun Paul Galley failed to get a notice of motion passed.
Members of the Justice for Charlene Downes campaign group booed as Coun Galley’s notice of motion was thrown out in favour of an amendment put forward by Labour, and unfurled banners which demanded ‘Break the Silence on Child Abuse’.
Coun Galley had submitted a motion to a meeting of the full council urging for a letter to be written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper asking for a national inquiry, with Blackpool included.
But the ruling Labour group refused to support his submission and instead voted for an amendment welcoming the government’s decision to implement the recommendations made by the Jay Report, following a seven year inquiry into child sex abuse.
Coun Jim Hobson, cabinet member for Children’s Services, said the outcome of an inspection into child safeguarding had been received which praised the council’s response to children at risk of exploitation.
Coun Galley told the meeting child grooming gangs potentially operated from hotels and amusement arcades and warned “Blackpool should have a voice” in any future inquiry which needed to cover links to coastal towns.
Conservative group deputy leader Coun Michele Scott added: “We have all seen the reports of vile crimes against children. We have heard how this is a far greater problem in our society and far more widespread than any of us could have imagined.”
She said a child in her own ward had recently been targetted by an online groomer and was saved only due to the vigilance of their family, while the police had recently sent text messages to residents warning them of the risks of grooming and county lines.
Councillors including Coun Jim O’Neill from Reform UK said the recommendations of the Jay Report should be implemented at the same time as a new national inquiry was held.
But the Labour group said Blackpool had been successfully tackling the risk of child sexual exploitation in the town since 2004 when the multi-agency Awaken task force had been set up following the disappearance of 14-year-old schoolgirl Charlene Downes.
Coun Hobson said: “The council and the wider safeguarding partnership in Blackpool have, over the past 20 years, undertaken a range of reviews and scrutiny into the work being undertaken to support children and families and to tackle exploitation of children, not just sexual exploitation but criminal exploitation, often referred to as county lines.
“In November of last year, the partnership was, as colleagues will be aware, subject to a Joint Targeted Area Inspection into the multi-agency response to the ‘identification of initial need and risk’ in Blackpool.
“And as you would expect, how we identify and respond to the risk of exploitation was a key line of enquiry for this inspection.”
He said the Awaken project had been part of the inspection with inspectors saying in the letter that a key strength was “the effective identification and response to children at risk of, or experiencing child exploitation, in particular from the multidisciplinary Awaken team.”
Coun Hobson added: “It is not more and more inquiries that will protect the children of Blackpool. It is action and delivering the change that has already been asked for.”
The amended notice of motion which was agreed welcomed the government timeline for the implementation of all of the recommendations of the Jay Report by Easter this year; committed the council to promptly implement recommendations aimed at local authorities and safeguarding partnerships; and confirmed the Blackpool Safeguarding Partnership would undertake an audit of the child exploitation data “to ensure we understand the drivers and are providing an effective response”.