Reading West MP Martin Salter has accused opposition councillors in Reading of playing party politics over the death of his constituents, and of gross hypocrisy and double standards in forcing from office Pete Ruhemann, Reading’s lead councillor for Children’s Services.

Mr Salter claimed that all councillors in Reading had a responsibility for the scrutiny of council services and should be working together to put in place improvement plans and strategies where services are not performing to required standards. He also pointed to the OFSTED judgement on Conservative controlled Wokingham which was highly critical of councillors whilst the criticism of Reading was not.

Martin Salter said:-

“Forcing Pete Ruhemann out of his job as head councillor for Children’s Services will not protect a single child in Reading. It is an act of pure, venomous political spite by Conservative and Liberal councillors who say one thing in Tory Wokingham and another in Reading. Opposition councillors have a key role to play in scrutinising council services and perhaps they should reflect if they have done all they could to improve the safeguarding of children in Reading.”

He added:-

“OFSTED have acknowledged that the one person who has been driving through these much needed improvements was Pete Ruhemann. They said:

“Lead councillors and the new chief executive are providing strong leadership by driving through urgent measures to ensure rapid improvement.”

“The Tories and Liberals have conspired to deprive Reading of the lead councillor who was providing that strong leadership, and Reading will be the worse for it.”

Contrasting the position in Wokingham, Mr Salter said:-

“It is clear that the Conservatives and Liberals adopt positions based on party political advantage rather than any genuine concern for children’s services. We have seen gross hypocrisy and clear double standards at work. Why else are people like Rob Wilson strangely silent over the OFSTED criticisms of Wokingham’s children’s services which really did criticise the role of councillors and the lack of political leadership. Given that Trae-Bleu and her mother were my constituents I find it particularly sickening to see party political games being played in the aftermath of their tragic deaths.”

The OFSTED report said of Wokingham’s councillors:-

“The focus of councillors and officers has been weak in some aspects of social care. Prioritisation is inadequate. Priorities for vulnerable children and social care are not yet clear among staff and councillors. Poor past focus, inconsistent member support, constant change and stretched management capacity have resulted in a fire-fighting and reactive management style.”