Damning report forces out boss of children's services

Steve Garner, the Service Director at Rochdale Council in charge of Children's Services has resigned. His last day in the office will be tomorrow. His resignation follows a damning report last week into the department and its handling of several cases of sexual exploitation in the borough.

His departure is no surprise as the council tries to move on from the failures of the past.

Mr Garner oversaw the department with responsibility for the children who were sexually exploited, or at risk of sexual exploitation.

Last week, in an exclusive interview with ITV News the chief executive of Rochdale Council told me that some staff within the council would have their future roles examined and that some may be losing their jobs because of the mistakes made.

This morning the council said:

Mr Garner was not available for comment but in an internal statement described the last few years as "challenging".