Council explains why it 'heavily redacted' grooming files, delaying police probe

Yahoo

07-07-2025

Manchester council has responded to accusations that it 'heavily redacted' files the police needed for investigations into grooming.
The local authority was criticised in the report commissioned by Andy Burnham which found that issues with information sharing are causing 'significant delays' in investigations and prosecutions of grooming gangs. It comes after GMP whistleblower Maggie Oliver revealed that some victims involved in Operation Green Jacket have been waiting several years for their abusers to be charged.
The police operation into historic child sexual exploitation in Manchester was launched in 2019 ahead of the first report in the mayor's independent assurance review which looked into how GMP failed to investigate cases in the early 2000s as part Operation Augusta.
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The latest report in Mr Burnham's review praised GMP for getting better in dealing with grooming, but still raised some concerns.
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Among them were issues with information sharing which are now being resolved through new agreements with local authorities.
The report, written by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), singled out Manchester council for criticism, revealing that some material provided by the local authority took months to arrive and was 'heavily redacted'.
According to the report, Operations Green Jacket and Bernese have been 'particularly affected' by delays caused by these issues.
In the report, the inspectors said: "Material provided by Manchester City Council took many months to arrive and was so heavily redacted that some pages contained only a few words. This made it impossible to assess the evidential value of the information."
There is now a dedicated point of contact at the council who can review information requests, the report said, and investigators can view unredacted documents remotely, which is 'far more efficient and effective', but means they have had to start the process again.
Manchester council chief executive Tom Stannard said the local authority has to abide by 'strict laws' relating to the sharing of personal data but admitted that there were occasions in the past when the town hall had been 'too cautious around redactions'.
He also said that staff were searching through paper records dating back decades which 'inevitably' slowed-down the process.
He said: "As an active partner in Operation Green Jacket, we are absolutely committed to supporting Greater Manchester Police's efforts to bring grooming perpetrators to justice. This includes giving the police access to all the information they need to conduct investigations.
"In doing so, we have to abide by strict laws around sharing the personal data that we hold with others, including the police. At the same time, we want to ensure the police have everything they need to build a case.
"This involves a complex legal balancing act and as the HMICFRS report makes clear, navigating the complications of data sharing laws is a national issue.
"We had to ensure that information was correctly provided so that it could be used [to] support prosecutions and could not be challenged by defendants' legal representatives
"Because we were searching through paper records dating back decades, the process was also inevitably slower than if we had been extracting information from computer files.
"Earlier on in this investigation, we accept that there were instances where in trying to do the right thing in the right way we may have been too cautious around redactions.
"But, working closely with the police, we've addressed this and developed new information-sharing protocols which we understand are proving effective and are considered model of good practice.
"As chief executive, I want to ensure that the council is doing everything we possibly can to support investigations. I will be writing to the Chief Constable to seek assurance that information sharing is working smoothly and there's nothing more we can do to assist.
"We continue to commit staffing and other resources to supporting Operation Green Jacket and work closely with the police to this end.
"We all want the same thing. To see justice for those children who were so badly let down in the early 2000s and to see perpetrators locked up."