Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans for a nationwide review into grooming gang evidence and five government-backed local inquiries.
He stopped short of launching a statutory national inquiry, as called for by Conservative and some Labor MPs, but it marks a clear shift in the government’s stance.
Cooper said senior counsel Tom Crowther, who led an inquiry in Telford, would help Oldham and four other yet-to-be-named pilot areas prepare their own reviews.
He also announced a “rapid” three-month national audit led by veteran government trouble-shooter Baroness Louise Casey into gangs and their The demographics of the victims as well as the “cultural drivers” behind the crime will be examined.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philip said the plan was “grossly inadequate” and reiterated calls for a full national inquiry.
He expressed concern that the local inquiry would not have the power to compel witnesses to appear under oath and give evidence.
The issue was recently brought into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who criticized the prime minister for not calling a national inquiry.
Mr Musk responded to Cooper’s announcement by saying on his X platform: “I hope this will be a proper investigation”. He added: “This is a step in the right direction, but the results will speak for themselves.”
The spat between Mr Musk and Starmer centered on high-profile cases where gangs of men – mainly of Pakistani origin – were convicted of raping and raping mainly young white girls in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale. was given
one An independent report published in 2014 by Professor Alexis JAn estimated 1,400 girls were raped in Rotherham. She would later lead a national review on child sexual abuse, which lasted seven years and made 20 recommendations when it was published in 2022.
Three Labor MPs have publicly expressed support for a national inquiry in recent days – Dan Carden, Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, and Rochdale MP Paul Waugh.
Other senior Labor figures, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, also joined the calls, saying they would support a limited new inquiry.
Professor Jay rejected calls for a new national inquiry last week, saying victims wanted to see their recommendations acted upon and a new inquiry would cause delays.
The Prime Minister and Labor Minister had said their priority was to implement Jay’s recommendations, and Cooper announced that a key point – mandatory reporting – would be included in the Crime and Policing Bill.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Cooper said that despite Professor Jay’s report and other inquiries, “shamefully little progress has been made”.
“That has to change,” he said, adding that by Easter, the government would set out a “clear timetable” for implementing the J report’s recommendations.
Cooper argued that “effective local inquiries can examine far more local detail and provide more locally relevant answers, and make a difference, than providing a lengthy nationwide inquiry”.
He said Tom Crowther, who led the inquiry in Telford, would help the government “develop a new framework for victim-centred locally-led inquiries where they are needed”.
He said it would start by working with Oldham Council and four other pilot areas, with a £10m package totaling £5m to “get things off the ground”.
Champion pressed the Home Secretary on whether the inquiry would be able to call witnesses to give evidence.
“What we need to do is make sure there’s no cover-up, and it’s only if it’s on legal grounds that we can do that,” he said.
Cooper responded that various approaches could be taken and that the government would work with local mayors and local councils to “make sure we strengthen accountability arrangements”.
He said this included introducing a “duty of candor” requiring civil servants to tell the truth.
A separate audit looking at the race of grooming gangs and their victims will be led by Baroness Casey, who previously led a 2015 review of Rotherham Council.
The crossbench is next to Monday. has already been set to lead the commission into social care, but Downing Street insisted the two pieces of work would not collide, saying its work on grooming gangs would be finished by the start of April.
In her statement, Cooper also announced that she would ask chief constables in England and Wales to re-examine historic cases of gang exploitation and reopen investigations “as appropriate”. He said it would be backed by £2.5m of funding.
The government has said that more victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation will be able to have their cases independently reviewed.
‘We’re fighting for it’
On the day Cooper was giving her statement, BBC News spent time with four survivors of the historic rape in Oldham.
He went to Birmingham to meet Jess Phillips, the government minister for protection and violence against women and girls.
Upon hearing Cooper’s statement, “Sarah” and “Amelia” exchange a hug.
“We are fighting for this,” he said through tears.
After spending time with Phillips, Amelia said: “I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m content right now but actions speak louder than words.”
But survivors “Sam” and “Jane” were not satisfied and said they did not feel they had been heard.
“We want a government inquiry into Oldham and other towns,” Sam told the BBC.
“We know what’s right and what’s wrong. We know that a government-led inquiry is different from a council-led inquiry.”
The women expressed their disappointment that the government’s decision on Thursday’s announcement was made before their meeting took place.
“It’s not just letting us down,” Jane explained. “We’re survivors, we’ve been through what we’ve been through.
“Now these are kids and other people going through it, we don’t want them to be let down.
“That is the whole point of what we are fighting for. We will not let them down in any shape or form. We will always stand for them.”
‘Sarah’, ‘Amelia’ and ‘Jane’ are not the real names of the women, whose identities are being protected by the BBC.
Last week, Sarah, Jane and Amelia All spoke to the BBC about their concerns..
‘important step’
Lucy Duckworth of The Survivors’ Trust welcomed Cooper’s announcement that the recommendations of the J Report – formally known as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation (IICSA) – would be implemented.
He said it would bring “fundamental and cultural change to how we protect children from all forms of sexual abuse and how we support victims and survivors to cope with the trauma”. .
Campaign group Act on IICSA, chaired by Professor Jay, said it was “an important step in addressing the systemic problems surrounding child sexual exploitation”.
“Together, we can create a future where sexual exploitation in all its forms ends,” said steering member Fay Maxtedt.