Posted by The government has been facing pressure to launch a new national inquiry into grooming gangs but ministers have said one was already carried out.
By Ali Fortescue, political correspondent, and Alix Culbertson, political reporter
Thursday 16 January 2025 18:33, UK
A multimillion-pound plan for local inquiries into grooming gangs has been announced by the government, a day after the home secretary was threatened with legal action over the issue.
Five new inquiries, including one in Oldham, will be assisted by central government, with £5m of funding.
Rotherham’s Labour MP Sarah Champion criticised the new inquiries for not having the power to summon witnesses to give evidence, but Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said there would be “new arrangements on accountability”.
The evidence gathered is not expected to be fed back to the Home Office for a national response.
Ms Cooper told the Commons there will also be a short national report that will bring together data gathered so far on grooming gangs and consider lessons that should be learned at a national level.
The “rapid audit” is set to only take three months and will be overseen by Baroness Casey, who is also leading an independent commission into adult social care.
Ms Cooper’s announcement came a day after Maggie Oliver, an ex-detective who resigned in 2012 over Manchester Police’s failure to address grooming gangs, had put the home secretary “on notice” about possible legal action if she did not support “my request for urgent, tangible and transparent action to combat the epidemic of abuse of children”.
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