From 'pariah town' to 'model' – praise over response to horror child sexual exploitation findings

Tom Crowther KC has delivered his verdict on the progress following his damning 2022 report into child sexual exploitation in Telford – which found more than 1,000 children had been victims of sickening abuse that "thrived unchecked" for decades.

In that report Mr Crowther issued 47 recommendations, and has now given a two-year update on the progress following his findings.

In his update Mr Crowther specifically praises the involvement of a group of three abuse survivors, who have been working with Telford & Wrekin Council following his report.

He said: "They have devoted untold hours to this work and the results have been inspiring."

He added: "The professionals I spoke to told me how the consultees challenged their preconceptions and how they gave, on occasions, very blunt and unsparing views about what worked and what did not.

"No agency or service can respond effectively unless it understands what it is responding to, and the value of ‘lived experience’ is in the real interaction with those who have lived and suffered and dealt with exploitation and its aftermath.

"Here, the consultees’ views have informed the implementation of recommendations, not only in respect of social care and youth work but the police, licensing, health and schools.

"Indeed there is no corner of this response that they have not touched, and the positivity and enthusiasm for what has been done, from the leaders of the services to those professionals at the sharp end, has been overwhelming."

He said that all organisations have "met my expectations" following the report, adding that in some cases they "have gone beyond what I had expected".

The inquiry chair said that of 47 Recommendations, 38 have been fully implemented.

He added that four remain in progress, "but with real progress", and that five are "impossible to put in place without national change".

Mr Crowther KC said that there are lessons for others from how the survivors and council have responded to the report to ensure future children are better protected.

He said: "People will not forget Telford’s history of child sexual exploitation – and nor should they. But in my view Telford’s approach – the council’s approach – to the recommendations, to engagement with its key partners and most of all with those three people it let down as children, now stands as a model.

"All involved – but particularly the consultees, who put aside hurt and anger and years of being dismissed in order to ensure that next generations are better protected than they were – deserve our very high praise."

He added: "Telford may be regarded as having been a “pariah town”, but I consider at the conclusion of this review that it is now an admirable model from which others can learn, when it comes to holding up a mirror to itself by commissioning this inquiry, investigating what has gone wrong, why and how, learning from this and taking bold action, with the most important of objectives – safeguarding children from CSE.