Rotherham Borough Council has cut two posts from its cabinet in order to fund counselling services for victims of the child abuse and exploitation unveiled in the Jay report.
The council has announced a new cabinet line-up, which will be led by Cllr Paul Lakin. Former leader, Cllr Roger Stone, stepped down in the wake of the report which found the council was negligent in protecting vulnerable children.
Cllr Lakin said the 25% reduction in the size of the council’s cabinet would provide £120,000 to support local counselling services for victims and survivors.
Cllr Paul Lakin said the council accepts ‘its full share of the blame’ for the failures and promised to implement the full recommendations of the report.
He said; ‘We will not brush this issue under the carpet. For too long the voices of victims were not even listened to, let alone heard; outrageously in some cases, the victims themselves were blamed
‘But we are listening now, and the victim's voices are being heard. We will do everything in our power to help and support them, and the Jay recommendations will be implemented in full.’
He also said he had asked the chief executive to consider if any council staff should be disciplined for the failings.
