Rotherham MBC has come a long way since it’s last Ofsted report in November 2014, which came in the aftermath of Professor Alexis Jay’s report into child sexual exploitation.

Children’s services were, unsurprisingly, castigated and condemned and rated inadequate, with ‘serious and widespread failures’ leaving children and young people without adequate protection. The subsequent Casey review, published in February 2015, found a council in denial, failing to deal with the findings of the Jay report and not fit for purpose. This led to an unprecedented government intervention of the managerial and political control of the council.