Two local authorities were ‘inexcusably slow’ to realise that children were being sexually abused in their boroughs, a leading group of MPs has found.

A report published today by the home affairs select committee says managers at both Rochdale and Rotherham MBCs are ‘ultimately responsible’ and ‘must be held accountable’ following major child abuse scandals.

The MPs said the police, social services and the Crown Prosecution Service ‘must all bear responsibility’ for the way in which vulnerable children have been left unprotected.

The report also calls for a change in the law and for local authorities to ensure that there is sufficient funding for the prevention of child sexual exploitation.

‘Officials who fail to act, for example in places like Rotherham or Rochdale, must not be allowed to evade responsibility through early retirement or resignation for other reasons and should not be paid compensation of any kind,’ said committee chair, Keith Vaz.

‘Children only have one chance at childhood, once that childhood is stolen by the terrific crime of sexual exploitation, it cannot be returned. Protection of these vulnerable children must be our first priority.’

The interim director of children’s services at Rochdale MBC, Gladys Rhodes White, said: ‘We accept the findings of the report. In many ways it repeats the conclusions of our own independent review published recently, but puts it into a national context.

’Clearly the agencies involved at the time did not work together adequately to tackle this abuse from the outset and council services missed opportunities to offer assistance. While we cannot change the past, where the council has fallen short, we have certainly made major changes to the way we now tackle the issues, which have also been well documented.’