The sexual abuse by the gang uncovered in Rochdale is horrific enough, and made worse by the abject failure of the police to respond to pleas for help from the teenage victims over several years, but questions have naturally been asked about how such young girls could have been preyed on so extensively when they were in care. The answers now beginning to emerge cast a frightening light on the breakdown of social care for children, which parallel a similar breakdown of social care for the elderly in the case of Southern Cross last year. What links both cases is the manner in which private equity exploited its financial interests with complete disregard for its caring responsibilities. Continue reading →