Clive Betts , chairman of the Communities and Local Government committee , said Ofsted 's 'credibility is on the line ' Ofsted 's credibility suffered a major blow yesterday when scathing MPs said the inspectorate was partly to blame for the Rotherham child sex abuse scandal . The education and child protection watchdog had given a clean bill of health to the town where as many as 2,000 children were exploited by gangs . Yesterday a Parliamentary committee probing Ofsted ’ s work there called for urgent inspections of every council in the country with responsibility for child protection – to ensure large-scale abuse isn ’ t being ignored elsewhere . Clive Betts , chairman of the Communities and Local Government committee , said Ofsted ’ s ‘ credibility is on the line ’ . The Labour MP added : ‘ The perpetrators bear ultimate responsibility for the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham but the ineffectiveness of Ofsted ’ s inspections contributed to a failure to expose the extent of the problem. ’ The fierce attack came on the day a second group of MPs found flaws in Ofsted ’ s handling of the Trojan Horse affair , in which Birmingham schools were accused of fostering religious extremism . The Commons education committee said little evidence of radicalisation had been found and ‘ confidence in Ofsted has been undermined , and efforts should be made by the inspectorate to restore it ’ . Meanwhile , the Rotherham report pointed to Ofsted inspectors repeatedly labelling child protection in the town as ‘ adequate ’ – yet they were tied to their paperwork and had no idea what was really going on . Instead , the inspectors simply accepted what they were told by local officials , and didn ’ t ask searching questions . ‘ Ofsted does not appear to have probed beyond what it was told , and it failed to penetrate the professional jealousy and incompetence that distorted the operation of children ’ s social care in Rotherham , ’ stated the report . It also described Ofsted ’ s habit of calling the efforts of councils like Rotherham adequate as ‘ ambiguous ’ . While Ofsted thought ‘ adequate ’ meant that improvement was needed , outsiders , including councillors , thought it meant ‘ satisfactory ’ . ‘ Rotherham appears to have gone a step further and interpreted it as indicating a strong performance. ’ The MPs added that Ofsted was operating in a way that meant its different inspectors and departments did not discuss their findings with each other – and inspections of councils like Rotherham were ‘ too short and narrowly focused ’ . They relied on paperwork – rather than actuality – and on what they were told by councils , who did not pass on concerns raised by whistleblowers and others . The education and child protection watchdog had given a clean bill of health to the town ( pictured ) where as many as 2,000 children were exploited by gangs . ‘ We conclude that the experience of whistleblowers at Rotherham was the antithesis of what a good whistleblowers policy should be , ’ the MPs said . They called for Louise Casey – who was sent in by the Government to examine Rotherham ’ s failures after the scandal broke – to carry out a second inquiry to check that the town is working more effectively . A similar inquiry should be held into South Yorkshire Police , they said . And they were ‘ uneasy ’ about the way in which Ofsted polices itself as it ‘ may not be sufficiently accountable for its performance ’ . Last night an Ofsted spokesman said : ‘ We welcome the report and the committee ’ s recognition that the changes we have made since 2012 strengthen our ability to uncover where children are at risk . We know we didn ’ t get it right historically in Rotherham and have apologised for those mistakes . ’
As many as 2,000 children were exploited by gangs between 1997 and 2013 . MPs probing Ofsted 's work there said the body 's 'credibility is on the line ' They want inspections of all councils with child protection responsibilities . Attack came after fellow MPs found flaws in Ofsted ’ s handling of Trojan Horse affair .