Former Rotherham councillors: None of the September cabinet was in denial

After the publication of the Jay Report in August last year, it became clear that there were many people in Rotherham more anxious to guard their reputations than protect the children of Rotherham. In our view, none of those appointed to the new cabinet at the full council meeting on 10 September 2014 was in denial.

The whole cabinet tried its best rapidly to heal the town’s wounds and rebuild trust in the council, but a culture established over decades is difficult to overhaul completely in a few weeks.

We are disappointed that we failed to move sufficiently quickly and hope that another fresh start will prove more successful in protecting vulnerable children and young people in Rotherham from sexual abuse.

The decent people of Rotherham, of all ethnic origins, want to see the perpetrators of these vile crimes apprehended, prosecuted and convicted.

It is unacceptable that years after many of the events took place we still have no knowledge of how many investigations and arrests there have been let alone the sight of these criminals brought to justice. We wish the incoming government commissioners more success with holding the South Yorkshire Police to account than we managed to have.