Nottinghamshire Council apologises and outlines changes after decades of child sexual abuse resurface in damning report

Nottinghamshire and Nottingham councils failed to protect children from sexual abuse by residential staff and foster carers for more than five decades from the 1960s.

This was the verdict of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which has been investigating institutional sexual abuse, during a damning report in 2019.

The IICSA has now published its concluding report, in which it reiterated the full extent of the issues at both councils.

The report said: “For more than five decades, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire councils failed in their statutory duty to protect children in their care from sexual abuse, perpetrated primarily by predatory residential staff and foster carers.

“In residential care, there were poor recruitment practices, low staffing ratios, few qualified staff and little training.

“In some instances, a sexualised culture prevailed, with staff behaving wholly inappropriately towards children, paving the way for sexual abuse.

“Neither council learned from its mistakes, despite commissioning many reviews which made clear what changes were needed in their care systems to stop the sexual abuse of children, nor did they have a satisfactory approach to addressing the issue of harmful sexual behaviour among children in their care.”

In Nottinghamshire, the inquiry focused principally on abuse of young people in care at Skegby Hall, near Mansfield, which operated as a borstal – now known as a young offenders' centre – and the former Beechwood care home on the outskirts of Nottingham.

Colin Pettigrew, Nottinghamshire Council corporate director for children and young people, said: “The publication of IICSA’s concluding report is a reminder of the courage of the victims and survivors who came forward during the seven years of the far-reaching national Inquiry.

“We have apologised unreservedly to the victims and survivors who suffered abuse while in our care.

“The safety and protection of children in our care remains our highest priority.

“As such, we are determined to support the inquiry’s findings and to listen and respond to any recommendations which may be set out.”

The 2018 inquiry received evidence from about 350 people who made allegations of sexual abuse and heard harrowing stories of children let down by ‘those who were supposed to be caring’ for them.

It revealed stories of children having abusive relationships ‘into adulthood’ and people reporting incidents not being listened to by staff inside both authorities.

One victim told the Nottinghamshire hearings in 2018 said: “I never stayed in one place long enough to feel like I had anyone adult who I could trust to report what had happened to me.”

Another said: “At no point in my teenage years or early adulthood was any sexual contact I had non-abusive in some way, shape or form.”

Another added: “I was sexually abused by those who were supposed to be caring for me.”

A previous report, published following the inquiry in 2019, told the councils to assess the risks of all current and former foster carers and ensure any concerns are referred for investigation.

Both councils accepted these recommendations.