Four years of crucial files on child sex abuse in Rotherham have gone missing from a council archive, it was revealed today.
Professor Alexandra Jay, who wrote the bombshell report revealing 1,400 young girls were abused in the town over 15 years, said minutes from key meetings have disappeared.
Rotherham Council was slammed in her report for ignoring the scandal and its leader and chief executive have both since resigned.
Appearing before the Commons local government committee, Prof Jay warned her inquiry had not seen all the key information.
“We were concerned about particular missing information, from around the time 1999 to 2003.
“This was a period when there were a group of dedicated professionals meeting and trying hard to address these issues,” she said.
“These meetings were carefully minuted. Those minutes were never available.
“I asked for them on several occasions, and they couldn’t be found.”
Prof Jay said there was no doubt the minutes should have been held by the council.
“Some of those involved in the meetings were very distressed that they couldn’t be found,” she said.
“There were four years of minutes.
“They contained information about how decisions were made about these children’s lives. As adults they have a right to know what happened.”
Prof Jay’s report revealed how a series of reports warning of widespread sexual abuse of vulnerable girls by gangs of Asian men were swept under the carpet by council chiefs.
She made clear today that highly-paid bosses were to blame.
“The problem was certainly with the senior managers who did not pay attention to what they were being told, and insisted it was all being blown out of proportion,” she said.
Asked where those bosses are now, she said: “They are either retired or moved elsewhere.”
Prof Jay added that a desire to keep “good relations” with the local Pakistani community and a worry about “reputational risk” for the council also caused officers to turn a blind eye.
She said: “There was a hope on the part of some that this was just a one-off problem and if people just kept quiet about it it would all just go away.”