PRESSURE is mounting today on Liverpool City Council’s Chief Executive Ged Fitzgerald in the wake of the child sexual exploitation scandal in Rotherham.
Liverpool’s head officer was chief executive in Rotherham between 2001 and 2003.
Today Liverpool’s Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Richard Kemp wrote to Mayor Joe Anderson asking what he will be doing to examine the role of Mr Fitzgerald in the Rotherham issue.
Merseyside Police Commissioner Jane Kennedy has also spoken about Mr Fitzgerald’s involvement in Rotherham.
Later a statement was issued by Mayor Anderson saying he will be discussing the Rotherham matters with Mr Fitzgerald as soon as possible.
The Mayor said: ““Having read and fully digested the Alexis Jay Report, the events over a 15 year period are truly shocking. I am aware that Mr Fitzgerald has co-operated fully with the inquiry and has given statements to it.”
The Mayor said he will be seeking clarification as to whether Mr Fitzgerald was aware of an earlier report into sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
“I also note that the Jay report is non-specific and does not name people, I will be seeking further clarification from Alexis Jay and others at Rotherham about Mr Fitzgerald's role.
“I want to reassure people in the City of Liverpool that child protection and safeguarding our children is of paramount importance to me and this administration.We will always put our children's safety first.”
In his letter Cllr Kemp asks Mayor Anderson whether he intends to investigate the role of the chief executive in Rotherham.
He tells the Mayor he believes it is particularly important that such a review should take place quickly.
He refers to the report into Rotherham by Professor Alexi Jay who said that "the content of the report which Mr Fitzgerald thought was, “anecdotal, used partial information and was methodologically unsound” was largely accurate and that children could have been protected if the report had been taken seriously".
Cllr Kemp adds: “This could have implications for the way information is viewed and used within our own Council by senior staff.”
He also said Mr Fitzgerald is due to become the President of SOLACE in October, the professional body for Chief Executives and other senior council staff and therefore the public face of all Chief Officers in England.
“It would clearly help him to have questions about his tenure in Rotherham cleared up before and if he assumes that role.”
Police Commissioner Kennedy, the former Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree has also intervened.
She said Liverpool’s chief executive and others “should examine their consciences” over their roles in the child abuse scandal in Yorkshire.
Mrs Kennedy said Mr Fitzgerald should decide whether he thinks he “did the right thing” when in charge there during his tenure, between 2001 and 2003.
So far Mr Fitzgerald has not made any comments in the light of this week’s shock report. He is out of the country and is not due back until the middle of next week.
Cllr Kemp’s letter:
Dear Joe,
Re: Ged Fitzgerald and Rotherham
I am sure that you will have been as concerned as I have been about the affairs that have been unravelling before our eyes over the past few days about the Children’s Services in Rotherham.
I understand from the press that the Current Chief Executive of Rotherham has forwarded a copy of the report to all councils where former Rotherham senior staff are working.
I note also that the current President of Solace made clear that it was the responsibility of current employers of such staff to investigate what those staff members did whilst in Rotherham and also to examine whether that has implications for their current employers.
On that basis I would be grateful if you would let me know:
-
Whether you have yet received the report;
-
Whether you have yet been able to study it; and
-
How you intend to take forward the suggested investigation.I believe it is particularly important that such a review should take place quickly for 2 reasons:
-
Professor Jay said that the content of the report which Mr Fitzgerald thought was, “anecdotal, used partial information and was methodologically unsound” was largely accurate and that children could have been protected if the report had been taken seriously. This could have implications for the way information is viewed and used within our own Council by senior staff; and
-
In October Mr Fitzgerald is due to become the President of SOLACE, the Professional body for Chief Executives and other senior council staff and therefore the public face of all Chief Officers in England. It would clearly help him to have questions about his tenure in Rotherham cleared up before and if he assumes that role.I look forward to hearing from you your proposals in this matter.
