Rotherham abuse scandal: Files 'went missing'

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MPs have called for an urgent investigation into allegations that files relating to the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal went missing . Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: “The proliferation of revelations about files which can no longer be located gives rise to public suspicion of a deliberate cover-up.

The BBC reports: ‘A Home Affairs Select Committee report said a council researcher claimed files detailing failures in tackling abuse were stolen from her office.

The report also calls for new laws to remove failing police commissioners.

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It comes after the Jay report found more than 1,400 children in Rotherham were abused from 1997 to 2013.
‘Suspicions of cover-up’

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said the Home Office should do “everything in its power” to locate any missing files in its possession relating to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham and other places.

He said: “The proliferation of revelations about files which can no longer be located gives rise to public suspicion of a deliberate cover-up.

“The only way to address these concerns is with a full, transparent and urgent investigation.”

The committee took evidence in private last month from a researcher employed by Rotherham Council between 2000 and 2002, who was working on a Home Office-funded pilot aimed at tackling prostitution.

In April 2002, she submitted information to the Home Office containing severe criticisms of the agencies in Rotherham involved with child sexual exploitation, with the most serious alleging “indifference” on the part of senior managers.

She claimed someone then accessed her office and removed data relating to the Home Office work. She said there were no signs of a forced entry to the key-coded and locked security doors.’