Update on Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs

Baroness Anne Longfield CBE has been appointed to chair the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs as part of a 3-person panel appointed under the Inquiries Act, finally getting answers for victims and survivors.  

Longfield, a former Children's Commissioner appointed in 2015 under the previous government, will be part of a 3-person panel. The three, appointed under the Inquiries Act, will investigate how young people were failed time and again by the very people who should have protected them. Longfield will work alongside Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panellists.

Longfield will instigate and direct local investigations in areas where it is suspected serious failures occurred, including Oldham. These will examine the actions of the police, councils, social services and other agencies, both locally and nationally, making sure any wrongdoing or cover-ups are brought to light and holding those responsible to account. Any evidence and findings from the inquiry that could support putting perpetrators behind bars will be passed to the police.  

The statutory inquiry will have full legal powers under the Inquiries Act to compel witnesses to give evidence, require organisations to hand over documents and records, and make recommendations, both locally and nationwide, to make sure nothing like this happens again.  

It has also been confirmed that the inquiry will focus exclusively on grooming gangs and explicitly ask how ethnicity, religion and cultural factors impacted both the response from authorities and the perpetrators themselves. The government has committed £65 million to the inquiry and it must not take longer than 3 years, putting a stop to victims waiting endlessly for answers. The draft terms of reference will now be consulted on before being finalised by March. 

Together the 3 panellists have extensive experience in championing children's rights, holding policing to account and navigating local government systems. These 3 appointments reflect Baroness Casey's recommendation that the inquiry be led by a panel of experts across the critical disciplines. 

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: 

For years, the victims of these awful crimes were ignored. First abused by vile predators, they then found themselves belittled and even blamed, when it was justice they were owed. 

Today, I have announced the Chair and panel of an inquiry which will shine a bright light on this dark moment in our history.     

They will do so alongside the victims of these awful crimes who have waited for too long to see justice done.     

This inquiry is theirs, not ours. So I call on all those present to put politics aside, for a moment, and to support this Chair and her panel in the pursuit of the truth.

Baroness Anne Longfield CBE brings 4 decades of experience in children's advocacy and safeguarding and was recommended by Baroness Casey, who has supported the set-up of the inquiry and has agreed to be an adviser to the inquiry for as long as is needed. 

Longfield will be supported by Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panellists, who have extensive experience in holding policing to account and local government systems. These 3 appointments reflect Baroness Casey's recommendation that the inquiry be led by a panel of experts across the critical disciplines. 

The panellists will work directly with victims and survivors throughout the investigation, ensuring their experiences are at the heart of the inquiry and that investigations are victim-centred and trauma-informed. 

This comes amid a swathe of other activity announced by the government to tackle grooming gangs, including announcing a further £3.6 million to be invested into the policing response. 

Baroness Longfield CBE said: 

I am honoured to be asked to undertake this important role by the Home Secretary. 

The findings in Baroness Casey's report were truly shocking, and I recognise that behind every heinous crime is a person, a child, a teenager, a family. I will never lose sight of this. 

The inquiry owes it to the victims, survivors and the wider public to identify the truth, address past failings and ensure that children and young people today are protected in a way that others were not. The inquiry will follow the evidence and will not shy away from difficult or uncomfortable truths wherever we find them. I am pleased to be working alongside Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as expert panellists in championing children's rights, holding policing to account and local government systems.

The scourge of grooming gangs has not been adequately tackled over past decades. That must change and I will do everything in my power to make this happen. I am grateful to Baroness Casey for agreeing to act as adviser during the inquiry to ensure it stays true to this promise. 

Baroness Louise Casey, adviser to the inquiry, said: 

Baroness Longfield, Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly have long-standing track records in advocating for children, holding police forces to account and leading on critical social issues. Together, they make a formidable team and have my full support. 

I will continue to work closely with the government to ensure the successful delivery of all my recommendations. Only by righting the wrongs of the past through the national criminal investigation, delivering this national inquiry and reforming our rape laws to make it unequivocally clear that children cannot consent to their abuse, can we truly draw a line in the sand.

A statutory inquiry was a key recommendation in Baroness Casey's recent audit into grooming gangs, which exposed serious failings in how institutions responded to child sexual exploitation. It forms part of the government's Plan for Change commitment to halve violence against women and girls, ensure safer streets and protect the most vulnerable in our communities.  

In the 6 months since the government accepted all of Baroness Casey's recommendations, significant progress has been made.  

Hundreds of previously closed investigations into abuse and exploitation are being reviewed as part of a national police operation, Operation Beaconport, focused on bringing more perpetrators to justice and getting justice for victims and survivors. The inquiry will also work closely with this police operation and any evidence or findings they uncover that could lead to a criminal charge will be passed to the police.   

The government will also bring in an automatic disregard scheme for “child prostitution” convictions and cautions, so that survivors can get on with their lives free from unjust criminalisation and stigma.

A further almost £3.75 million will be invested into the policing response, support for survivors and research into how to stop grooming gangs, with: 

• nearly £1 million for the National Crime Agency to support Operation Beaconport, with a further £2.6 million for local police forces to review closed cases identified
• £146,000 for a rapid assessment of Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVAs) services, to identify any gaps in services for supporting child victims of grooming gangs and technology-assisted sexual offences

The Home Secretary has commissioned new research from UK Research and Innovation to rectify the unacceptable gaps in our understanding of perpetrators' backgrounds and motivations, including their ethnicity and religion.

This investment shows the government's unwavering commitment to tackling group-based child sexual exploitation on multiple fronts – investigating past crimes and cover-ups, finding and prosecuting offenders, and preventing future abuse.