Letter from Parliament - Simon Danczuk MP

Simon Danczuk MP

I’d like to start this week by paying tribute to the outgoing mayor Jim Gartside. Jim was a very good mayor for Rochdale and served our town well. The first citizen of the Borough is a great civic tradition and Jim has been an excellent ambassador.

Unfortunately, this can’t be said for everyone in the public eye and I was disappointed to see the media spotlight shine upon our town once again for the wrong reasons this week as a result of the Council’s independent report into child grooming.

The Council’s report into what went wrong in children’s services at a time when a child abuse epidemic was sweeping our Borough makes grim reading. And it clearly points the finger of blame at Roger Ellis, our former chief executive.

The fact that it acknowledged that nearly a quarter of cases had been handled wrongly and there was a consistent lack of leadership is bad enough. But for the report to rub salt into the wounds and state that Roger Ellis was not even interested in children’s social care issues adds insult to injury.

Roger Ellis earned more than most Rochdalians can dream of and he failed to get to grips with a problem that has caused a huge amount of suffering in our town. The new chief executive, Jim Taylor, has a huge job on his hands to turn the Council around and he’s starting to make progress. It will not be easy, though, and he will need some time to sweep away years of failure and complacency.

I was pleased to welcome the Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna, to Rochdale this week. He met with some of the town’s business leaders and saw for himself some of the excellent work being done to create jobs and develop innovative products in our town. I am particularly pleased that a number of local businesses are having success in exporting their products to emerging markets. Manufacturing is a bedrock industry for our local economy and, although times are tough right now, we are still performing well.

I am always keen to bring people to Rochdale and this week I was fortunate to be granted an audience with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. I made a point of inviting the Duchess of Cornwall to visit Rochdale and she said she’d love to come. I’ll certainly be following up this invite and hope she can find time to see our town.