The final stage of a comprehensive independent review, commissioned by Andy Burnham, to provide assurance that Greater Manchester councils and police have the right culture and best possible systems in place to protect children from sexual exploitation (CSE), has been unanimously endorsed.
After the endorsement of the Mayor and leaders at a Greater Manchester Combined Authority meeting today the independent review team will now progress the fourth and final part of the Independent CSE Assurance Review.
The review team will work with all ten local authorities in the city-region, as well as Greater Manchester Police, to assess the progress that has been made to date in terms of Greater Manchester multi-agency responses to CSE and identify priority areas for further improvement.
Following the airing of the BBC documentary, The Betrayed Girls, about child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester on 3 July 2017, the Mayor announced he wanted to assure himself and the public that everything possible has been done to protect children today and in the future and prevent it from happening again.
Since then, independent reviews into Manchester (Part One) and Oldham (Part Two) have been completed, with Rochdale (Part Three) due to report by the end of 2023.
It will again be led by nationally-recognised independent experts, Malcolm Newsam CBE and Gary Ridgway with an expectation that it will be completed by the end of the year.
Chief Constable Stephen Watson committed GMP’s full cooperation with part four of the review and gave updates on Operation Sherwood in Oldham and Operation Lytton in Rochdale.
GMP Chief Constable, Stephen Watson, told the GMCA meeting: “Operation Sherwood was set up to review the ten cases which were specifically reviewed as part of the Independent team’s remit in Oldham, plus a further case which was identified during the process, so 11 cases in total which are being scrutinised in forensic detail.
“The investigation is being led by our Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team, with 106 dedicated investigators involved. That represents a significant and entirely justified investment in ensuring we have the right numbers of people with the right training, the right attitude, bringing the very best possible current practice. It is being led by the same Senior Investigating Officer as Operation Lytton in Rochdale and comprises of the majority of the same team who have a really impressive track record in bringing people to justice.
“There’s a limit to what we can say as it is a live investigation, but it is important for me to advise that all survivors referenced in the Oldham report have been approached and spoken to. We’re talking about people who have experienced great trauma and huge sensitivity is required. There’s a very methodical, sensitive, professional wrap-around in respect of every one of these survivors. The investigations are progressing well but timescales in these cases are long and that should not be mistaken for lack of progress.
“Operation Lytton is a long-standing investigation which has dealt with offending between 2002 and 2006 in Rochdale and real progress has been achieved. Eight men in the first cohort were charged in April last year with 82 sexual offences including 32 rapes and these men are currently on trial at Minshull Street. The second cohort is 11 men, charged with 103 offences in May this year and their trial date is 13 January 2024. The third cohort, an additional ten, charged with 76 offences in May and a trial date for this cohort has been set for April 2025. The fourth cohort are currently with the Crown Prosecution Service and cohort 5 will be brought forward in the coming weeks and months.
“It is important to highlight Lytton as this has been going for eight years, but now you can see the proof in the pudding and that is in people being brought before our courts with very compelling evidence. I appreciate that sometimes these things can take longer, but timescales are tethered to the individual needs of victims. We have vulnerable people who have suffered great trauma and some of these people have locked this trauma away for the last two decades and this is all being reopened for them. We tread carefully, sensitively and professionally.
“I have a personal determination to pursue offenders to the very ends of what we are empowered to do. There can be no hiding space in Greater Manchester for people who have conducted themselves in this way. There is no place for people to hide.
“We are absolutely committed to the transparent, fulsome engagement with the Assurance Review process on the basis that we all learn together and GMP will enter that process with all humility and confidence that Greater Manchester is now in a totally different place.”
