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Child protection systems across UK 'must be reviewed'

Measures to protect children from serious abuse must be reviewed following the widespread sexual molestation which was uncovered in the wake of the Rotherham scandal, MPs have warned.

A scathing report from the Communities and Local Government Committee condemned a watchdog for failing to expose failings at Rotherham council which led to the abuse of 1,400 children between 1997 and 2013.

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Ofsted: We did not give Rotherham 'the focus it needed'

The education watchdog has admitted it failed to give Rotherham Council "the forensic focus it needed and deserved," after MPs slammed Ofsted's inability to expose mass child sexual abuse in the south Yorkshire town.

An Ofsted spokesman said they "welcomed" the chance to give evidence before the Communities and Local Government Committee, after MPs published a scathing report into child protection services in Rotherham.

Ofsted welcomes the opportunity to give evidence to the committee. In common with a number of organisations, we accept that past inspections may not have given child sexual exploitation the forensic focus it needed and deserved.

That's why last year we introduced a new and much more rigorous inspection framework for inspecting children's services, which places a stronger emphasis on the issue.

Inspectors now look closely at the experiences of children, focusing sharply on whether the risks of sexual exploitation are understood and acted upon by frontline agencies. This week we will be publishing the first in-depth nationwide survey into local authority practice and responses to child sexual exploitation.

– An Ofsted spokesman
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Child protection systems across UK 'must be reviewed'

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