Drivers who transport pupils to undergo vetting on abuse

A report ordered by the Government found “good progress” had been made, but recommends that tough new licensing rules should be brought in across the county for thousands of drivers transporting children.

There were also calls for specialist therapy to be provided for adult survivors of child sexual abuse and for better profiling of child abusers.

The findings came after a serious case review of how seven men – jailed for a minimum of 95 years in 2013 – were allowed to groom, sexually abuse and prostitute six young girls in Oxford. It was published in March.

That review exposed how authorities – principally the police and Oxfordshire County Council’s children’s services – ignored warning signs and failed to understand how grooming gangs worked until 2011.

It prompted the Government to appoint child protection specialist Sophie Humphreys to oversee a fresh report on whether progress had been made to tackle the issue in Oxfordshire, commissioned by the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board (OSCB).

In her findings, published yesterday, Ms Humphreys said there had been “solid progress made in how child sexual exploitation is understood and responded to in Oxfordshire” and that she had “witnessed no complacency”.

But she agreed there was still need for improvement, particularly with how about 1,000 children were transported every day for the county council and “are in contact, usually alone, with predominantly adult males”.

She added: “This is not vilifying taxi drivers as a profession. It is about having the necessary oversight.”

There was no evidence that drivers had sexually abused any passengers being transported for the county council, senior figures stressed yesterday.

The call was backed by Oxfordshire’s four district councils and Oxford City Council – responsible for licensing – who vowed to create a new “face-to-face” vetting process for drivers.

In a joint statement, leaders Matthew Barber, John Cotton, Barry Norton, Bob Price and Barry Wood said: “Our aim is for every driver and every escort to have completed all the necessary assessments, vetting and safeguarding training as a condition of receiving his or her licence.

“It is vitally important that we have a robust system that reduces the risk of unsafe drivers obtaining licences.”

The new approach will make safeguarding training mandatory for cab drivers, introduce more rigorous criminal record checks and involve information sharing between the councils.

The overhaul of licensing rules was prompted by an internal review carried out earlier this year by Oxfordshire County Council, which commissions transport services for vulnerable children.

It found it was “increasingly common for a driver to be licensed in one area but drive a private hire vehicle in another area... cancelling out any council’s attempt to protect the public by raising the bar for its licensing criteria.”

Jim Leivers, head of children’s services at the county council, said: “We must have in place standards that ensure children are being transported safely.”

• Jim Leivers

Ms Humphreys’ report also raised concerns about therapy provided for young adults who were victims of child sexual exploitation, which she said was currently “sparse, and often not adequate”.

She also called for those who carried out the sexual abuse of children to be profiled.

Ms Humphreys wrote: “Tackling child sexual exploitation is undoubtedly complex and the clear focus of the OSCB and partners in making sure the local response is robust, is absolutely the right thing to do.”

Maggie Blyth, chairwoman of OSBC, said: “We have done a lot of work with professionals with awareness raising and lots of work with schools, but there is still further work to be done with communities.

“That relies on the authorities of Oxfordshire working very closely together.”

And Superintendent Christian Bunt, Thames Valley Police commander for Oxford, said: “Child sexual exploitation will remain a local and force-wide priority.”