BOLTON Council’s safeguarding chief has offered reassurance that child sexual exploitation in the borough will never be “swept under the carpet”.

Cllr Ann Cunliffe was speaking in the wake of what has been described as Britain’s worst ever child sexual abuse scandal was uncovered in Telford.

She was speaking at the full meeting of Bolton Council in response to a question from the Conservative’s Martyn Cox.

Cllr Cox referred to the tragic case of Victoria Climbie, who was tortured to death by her guardians in 2000, despite authorities including local councils, police, the NHS and the NSPCC all being aware of the abuse.

He told the chamber that, following the passing of the Children’s Act in 2004 he had spoken in Festival Hall on the issue of child abuse as first executive member for children’s services.

He said: “In that speech I said this was happening to ensure this could never happen again, we would not rest to ensure it could not happen again.

“But not only does it keep happening, it’s not even deemed newsworthy by our national broadcaster either through its broadcasts or its website. I won’t let this fundamental issue be swept under the carpet and I know members opposite won’t either.”

He continued: “In recent weeks the Sunday Mirror has broken a story alleging the grooming and subsequent abuse of thousands of young girls.

“This comes on the back of scandals in Rotherham, Rochdale, Newcastle and Oxford. Can the cabinet member reassure residents that both the culture -and it’s the culture that’s most important - and co-operation amongst agencies is such that what has happened elsewhere cannot happen in Bolton?”

Cllr Ann Cunliffe, cabinet member for education, schools, safeguarding and looked after children, told Mr Cox :“I can assure you we will never sweep anything under the carpet. Hopefully that will never ever happen in Bolton.

“We have a multi-agency team that provides a robust response to investigate child sexual exploitation in Bolton all of them very hard working and very dedicated.”

She continued: “A recent review by Greater Manchester Police concluded that agencies in Bolton are working well together to investigate offences and safeguard victims.

“CSE is a national and regional issue and all parts of the council and its partners are working hard to minimise this risk and protect our children.”

Cllr Cunliffe added that a presentation of the work being done to address the risk of CSE would be given at the Health Overview, Adult Services and Children's Scrutiny Committee on April 4.

She said it would allow councillors to measure the effectiveness of the current approach.