Two council chief executives have come under the spotlight for their role in tackling child sexual exploitation on Oxfordshire following yesterday's publication of a serious case review into Operation Bullfinch.

Outgoing Oxfordshire CC chief executive Joanna Simons, who has held the top role since 2005, rejected calls for her to step down immediately, before her scheduled departure later this summer.

Review author, Alan Bedford, reported: ‘Middle managers told the CSC review that … "if they took issues to senior managers it would result in criticism and blame and so they learned not to escalate, but to try and manage things themselves'.