No police officers to face misconduct proceedings over the Rochdale child sex abuse scandal

None of the police officers involved in the investigation of the Rochdale child sex abuse scandal will face misconduct proceedings.Although one of the seven officers issued with misconduct notices was found to have a case to answer, the detective inspector has since retired from Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

The investigation - titled Operation Span - exposed flaws across all agencies in response to the challenges associated with child sexual exploitation, including a lack of understanding of the complexity of the issue.

Other failures were identified as issues, with information being shared across agencies that used different IT systems, GMP's focus being on addressing serious acquisitive crime, and officers not having the necessary skill set.

It also said the "churn" of staff at Rochdale, particularly in the inspecting ranks, meant that leadership of the issue could not be maintained, and there was little in the way of effective handover.The investigation identified one detective sergeant who made individual errors in his handling of the investigation, but it found that he had raised concerns about a need for more resources but was not supported by his superiors.

Others who were served notices included the former divisional chief superintendent, a superintendent, two detective chief inspectors, and two detective inspectors.

They all received management action in respect of their performances.The report was split into two parts, one looking at the handling of the complaints made by two separate children, and the other looking into the wider decision-making by the Rochdale senior leadership team.