02/09/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

1400 children were sexually abused over 16 years.

We also learnt that 12 new victims have come forward.

And the repercussions are still being felt in South Yorkshire `

There have been a number of significant developments today.

South Yorkshire Police say there will be an independent investigation

into the force's handling of child sexual exploitation in the town.

The Labour Party has suspended four members in Rotherham,

including Roger Stone, who stepped down as council leader last week.

Last night's BBC Panorama programme named one of the suspected abusers

Emma Glasbey has the first of two reports on

It's a town shaken by the revolutions of grooming and abuse of

children. Today, there were major developments. A week after the full

scale of sexual exploitation in Rotherham was made public. This

afternoon, the Home Secretary told the House of Commons it's likely the

Council will face an independent inspection. My Right Honourable

Secretary of State for Communities and Local

Government shares my concerns over the failings by Rotherham

This includes the inadequate scrutiny by the Council, and the

covering up of the information. And this morning, action from labour. X

Rotherham council leader and ex`deputy leader had been suspended

by the party. Along with serving counselors Gwendolyn Russell and

Allie. Today on look North, it was revealed that the Council would soon

be facing more questions. The chief executive of Rotherham council and

the director of children's services will be before a committee and we

will be asking them what went wrong and why no officer of the Council

has been held to account. The Chief Constable for the South Yorkshire

Police announced today an independent investigation into how

his force handled the grooming scandal. He told the committee that

it is has been a huge wake`up call and more are tackling exploitation.

In 2010, we had three staff who were dealing with child exploitation. By

2012, at the time I appeared before you before, it was eight. In 2013,

it was eight and now it is 62. Again, I don't suggest, or even

begin to suggest, that we are finished with this but we are

treating this as seriously and nobody is complacent. The

investigation and suspension was announced today followed last night

Panorama. One of the suspected abusers that remains a free man was

named. He denies the crimes, he said to the BBC.

The Home Secretary has accused the police and council officials

in Rotherham of a "complete dereliction of duty"

in failing to protect hundreds of children from child abuse.

So how is this being viewed in the town?

Our reporter Tom Ingall is outside the council offices.

Tom, what more can you tell us? This story has moved incredibly quickly.

We asked this morning the Rotherham council and South Yorkshire Police

if they would give us a new interview a new interview we gone

from the release of this report. Both organisations to client, but as

was said before, both organisations have come under plenty of pressure.

Many in the town have said the victims are not being listened to

and in the years to come, there may not be enough support for them.

It's been a week since the breadth of this scandal was revealed.

In this town of 250,000 people are 1400 young

Contrasting the silence of officials and stakeholders,

On occasions, you've got to remember there could

It's still having an effect on my life even now.

It's hard, having to walk around your local

town and to see faces that you recognise, and getting taxis

Charities have warned of the dangers, providing educational

resources, but now a member of the original South Yorkshire Police team

who investigated the grooming of children says it was not a priority.

I don't think they were sufficiently organised to deal with the scale

Was child sexual exportation a priority?

No, it just wasn't treated seriously.

I've got to say that, it wasn't treated seriously enough.

The Rotherham Women's Counselling Service provides invaluable support

for victims of rape, sexual or domestic abuse.

They already have a waiting list of six months.

The impact of picking up additional referrals with all of the media

attention, that's simply going to extend the six`month waiting list to

Our attention needs to be 110% with the victims or, as we prefer

There is report after report after report,

there's suggestions about having reports based on other reports.

What I have yet to see is someone actually saying, this is what we're

going to do and we're going to fund services that support survivors

Seven days since the report, but it could be years before victim

feel that they can even start to deal with their experiences.

! Tomorrow the focus will come back to Rotherham council. For the first

time since the report was released, there is a full cabinet meeting.

Many directors will be meeting, with one item on the agenda and that is

to discuss the reaction to the report released. The public will

also be allowed in the meeting, so it will be interesting. Other public

figures have been called to come before the committee and the former

Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police will be headed back to the

committee next week. There are three MPs

for the Rotherham area. One is Labour's John Healey,

who has represented Wentworth I asked him if he was ever aware

of the level of child abuse being No, I had no idea and the Council

didn't brief us on this as MPs and the police certainly didn't talk

to us about it. As some

of the recent programmes have shown, the police were a big part of

the problem in those early years. Extraordinary, isn't it,

that it was open knowledge among the taxi drivers and hotel owners but

local politicians and even Labour That is what you are paid to do,

isn't it? I am a Labour MP, I am proud to

be the Labour MP for this area. If I had had an inkling or

an idea of the scale and the seriousness of this, I tell

you, I would not have let it rest. But there were warnings as early

as 2002 and 2003, right under the noses of local officials

and indeed the police, yet nothing was done under the tenure of Labour

Home Secretary David Blunkett. It says the problem was downplayed,

people believed or said that they The police, it was quite clear that

they treated the victims as responsible for their own actions

when these were children being raped and having illegal sex and they just

didn't treat these victims and these Do you think

the Labour councillors and The report does not say that is

the case. Questions for some of those Labour

politicians in leading positions, including those who have been

suspended by the party today for investigation, and it raises serious

questions about senior council management and very serious

questions for the police as well, Only one resignation so far, the

former leader of Rotherham Council. Tell me, how can anyone have faith

in the integrity of the local politicians and council officials

if they are unwilling to take I think what that Labour councillor

did was take responsibility I think that was

the right thing to do. We've got to rebuild that sense

of public confidence in the council, in politics more generally and

in the actions of the police. That confidence is most important

for the victims of child exploitation and sex abuse

is going on still in Rotherham As we said in the House of Commons,

we've got to make sure those victims get the support and a long`term help

that they will need in the future, The teenager hoping

to be riding high. We meet the Leeds youngster aiming

to add another cycling medal to A special assembly has been held

at the Huddersfield school attended by a 12`year`old boy who's still

missing after being swept out to sea Isaac Nash got

into difficulties whilst paddling The search

for him is still continuing. After four full days

of searching the Anglesey coast, hopes are fading that 12`year`old

Isaac Nash will be found alive. The schoolboy

from Huddersfield was swept out to His younger brother, Xander,

who's ten, was saved from the waves by his father and

went back to school this morning, where a special assembly was held

for the brother's classmates. I am always proud of the children,

but the way they have handled themselves

this morning has been superb. And I think, also,

the way that Isaac's family have handled themselves

and dealt with the situation... I think they've dealt with it

with great strength and dignity. And I think that it's helped other

people, as well Last night, friends and family held

a vigil for Isaac, the children able to grieve in their own way

and a chance for Isaac's parents to see the community support mobilized

by last week's awful accident. The life boat crew have posted their

regrets on Facebook with a special message from Zoe, his family. He

said they had been visiting Aberffraw things the child was born,

and will continue to visit there. Nick Bentley is

the brothers' tae kwon do coach. He says the family are coping

as best they can. I have exchanged a few messages with

Zoe over the last couple of days. They are coping very well

at the moment. Obviously, it is a very difficult

time for them and the whole family. They are concentrating

on trying to celebrate the 12 years of Isaac's life rather than dwell

on the incident that happened. Tomorrow, it's Isaac's closest

classmates that will return here to school for the first time,

joining the younger ones. So another difficult day in store,

particularly That life can be

so fragile is a hard lesson at any South Yorkshire's Chief Constable

has told MPs that the BBC put his force in "a very difficult

position" over a planned search of Sir Cliff Richard's home

as part of an investigation The BBC has been criticised

for having TV crews at David Crompton told the

Commons Home Affairs Committee that the force allowed access

because they feared saying "no" The committee's chairman Keith Vaz

accused the force of incompetence. Criminals

in South Yorkshire must be rubbing their hands with glee with the

thought of having to deal with your officers, who will appear to give in

at the first possible opportunity. I know you won't accept that

because your position before this committee today is that

you blame The Met, you blame the BBC, you blame everybody else,

but as far as you are concerned, Leeds to New York in less than ten

hours ` that's the promise from Leeds Bradford Airport after

they announced the launch of new The service will connect with

a large number of flights to destinations

in the USA and passengers from Leeds will be able to go through American

customs in Dublin. It'll be operated by Aer Lingus

and it's also hoped the new link will encourage more American

tourists to come to Yorkshire. Some BBC channel numbers are

changing on Freeview tomorrow If you're

in Chesterfield or some parts of South Yorkshire, you might find you

lose channels including BBC One. For help and advice

on retuning Freeview call Digital UK on 03456 50 50 50 or go to

digitaluk.co.uk/retuning. If you're watching on satellite

or cable, you'll be unaffected. Now, will the big referendum

ballot on Scottish independence Well, there's an argument that parts

of Yorkshire are already worse off as a direct result of the government

trying to persuade the Scots to stay In the latest of this week's series

on the Scottish Referendum, here's Fife on the Scottish east coast

glowing in the summer sunshine. It is hard to believe that this

in the middle of a coalfield. There's barely a trace

of an industry where thousands used In fact, there were once more than

50 deep coal pits here in Fife By the '60s,

down to a couple of dozen. But the economic blight remains

so here in Fife what they are saying is that they need government cash

and EU aid just as much as any The whole project is

around young people getting involved The money is spent on projects like

this, giving desperately needed skills to youngsters who design,

build and race electric cars. But here they feel Yorkshire's

coalfields have had a better deal. I can name places like Manvers and

Wath where they have had investment and taken away the spoiled tips,

the old lagoons and build new I don't think in certain parts

of the Scottish coalfield Manvers and Wath, the old pit

complex in south Rotherham has It is now finding that half

the European money it had been relying on to continue the job over

the next seven years is being When we first started, we had

European money, and it did work. We worked

in partnership with the government, It is a question of the levels of

deprivation and yet lots of money seems to be going into areas in

other parts of Europe which aren't In fact, that cut was nothing

to do with Brussels. With just months to go to

the referendum, the UK government ordered the switch of hundreds

of millions of EU funding It was seen as a demonstration

of what benefits the United Kingdom could bring and,

with Europe's funding regime fixed for seven years,

that Yorkshire money is likely to stay here in Scotland whatever

the outcome of the referendum. And we will continue with

our look at what the Scottish independence referendum means

for Yorkshire tomorrow and Thursday Before seven o'clock: A new twist on

home cooking. The West Yorkshire chef growing

his fruit and veg just outside Tanya's here with all

the latest sports news. We understand that the Leeds Rhinos

full`back Zak Hardaker is being investigated for making

an alleged homophobic comment. We believe the allegation stems

from this incident in Friday's Hardaker served a five`match ban

earlier this season after admitting making a homophobic comment

during a match against Warrington. Huddersfield Town are expected

to decide this evening who they The former Charlton boss

Chris Powell is one of three candidates still in contention

after a second round of interviews Meanwhile, Oscar Garcia,

who was talked to about the vacant head coaches job

at Leeds United, has today become In cricket it's been

a record`breaking day for Yorkshire and Adam Lyth

as they continue to push for victory Lyth celebrated the highest score

of his career with 251. Tour continues for Tom at the

Sainsbury's School games in Manchester. Providing his kit is dry

in time. He is really pleased to be selected

and it will be a great experience for them. It is like a little

Olympic Village, they get to stay with their teams there is a team

manager and there are no parents nagging them.

There comes a time when every man has to stand on his own two feet.

When is Tom going to start doing his own cycling gear?

This is outrageous. How do you know I didn't `` code you know I hung out

the washing and he didn't? Younger brother Joel is on his way.

One of the judges from Yorkshire has been saying that my brother is

better than me and I'm not going to have that. He is not going to be

better than me. There were no Red Arrows Road

closures today, just a young man with a big dream.

That brings back all those happy memories of the Tour de France.

Nice to see you on Ageas day. `` Tuesday.

Do you struggle to get your five a day?

Yes. We all know that fresh fruit

and veg are good for us. But one Yorkshire chef has made it

his mission to get his five a day Tim Bilton opened the Spiced Pear

restaurant near Holmfirth last year. Now he's turned four acres

of moorland opposite And he's recruiting the help

of local allotment owners, too, High on a hillside in sunny

Hepworth, four acres of home`grown This is the vision

of restauranteur Tim Bilton. Having trained under celebrity chef

Raymond Blanc, he has maintained the ethos of using as much fresh

produce in his cooking as possible. Tim brings all the flair

of a fancy London restaurant to the table but his roots are firmly

here in Yorkshire. Working down in Oxford for

Raymond Blanc was an absolute honour and Italy, I have never left

Yorkshire. But even the top chefs can do

with some gardening tips. So Tim is inviting nyone who grows

their own fruit and veg to pop in. He will cook up a free feast as

long as they provide the produce. The National Allotment Society

is backing his campaign. You get a lot of sort

of down`to`earth feeling of actually growing it That is

a big thing for me. Someone will give you

a plant or some advice. We have got a problem with greenfly

and I would love to know how to get rid of that so if I can tap

into somebody's knowledge, The celebration

of home`grown produce will take place at the Spiced Pear in Hepworth

on 8 September. A nice juicy marrow or cultivated

cucumber should get you in. I did have a turn of pineapple

chunks last night. Does that count? Yes, it does actually. Reasons

count. It is a real struggle to have five.

Apparently you have two have 7`10. Let's show you some pictures that

have come in. The header is looking beautiful, the purples. That is down

to how wet it was in August. Keep the pictures coming in.

Tomorrow is rather cloudy with sunshine. It is not straight forward

because there is lots of clouds trapped under this area of high

pressure but at least that means conditions will remain settled.

After the glorious start, we got lots of cloud this afternoon.

Temperatures levelled off at 19 or 20 degrees. There is a bit of a gap

but more low cloud coming up from Norfolk. That will break up and melt

away. Clear skies developing overnight before low cloud returns

and pushes westwards. There might be the odd spot of drizzle but it is

predominantly dry. The sun rises in the morning at around 6:18am. I

suspect when you walk up to clear blue skies this morning. There

should be some sunny spells particularly through Wednesday

afternoon. Just a light breeze. It should feel pleasant along the coast

but inland were the sun pops out 21 Celsius is expected. That is

slightly above the average. Good news for the one`day international

at Headingley on Friday, a full day's play.

Amy has just revealed to me that she is partial to the odd figure.