South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Shaun Wright tried to excuse his failings over child abuse in Rotherham yesterday by saying the problem was as bad now as ever.

Before his election as PCC in 2012, Mr Wright was a Labour councillor in Rotherham for over a decade and had responsibility for children’s services from 2005 to 2010.

Answering public questions at South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Panel yesterday, Mr Wright said that child sexual exploitation (CSE) levels were just as high as they were in the periods covered by the report that exposed the abuse.

He has resisted widespread and repeated top-level calls to resign since the publication of the Jay Report into CSE in Rotherham, which detailed how at least 1,400 children were subjected to abuse including rape, violence and trafficking for sex between 1997 and 2013.

Yesterday, the commissioner agreed this was abuse on an industrial scale.

“It’s a very difficult and complex issue to prevent,” he told the panel.

“That shouldn’t be any excuse for not trying to prevent it. But I’m afraid it is still going on today. It’s just as prevalent today as it was in 2010 or 2005 or indeed any period before that.

“All I can say is that you’ve got my absolute commitment to continue the work that’s already been put in place and to try and continue the progress that has been made since I’ve been police and crime commissioner.”

The panel passed a vote of no confidence in Mr Wright.