Home Secretary Announces “Rapid Audit” of Grooming Gangs Plus Backing For New Local Inquiries

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper

3 min read26 min

Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, Cooper said the audit would be led by Baroness Louise Casey, who is also leading the independent commission into adult social care. Casey was the author of the 2015 report on child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. 

The government has come under pressure in recent weeks both from opposition politicians and some of its own Labour MPs to announce a new national inquiry into gang-based sexual exploitation. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to do so, arguing it would only delay the implementation of recommendations previously set out to help victims. 

Cooper did not today announce a full new national inquiry into grooming gangs.

However, the home secretary announced there would be a “rapid” three-month audit of the problem as well as “national backing” for councils to carry out their own inquiries.

Tom Crowther KC, chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town of Telford, has been asked to work with the government to develop a new framework for victim-centered, locally-led inquiries where they are needed. 

Crowther will work with Oldham council and four other pilot areas in the first instance. 

“I have asked Baroness Louise Casey to oversee a rapid audit of the current scale and nature of gang-based exploitation across the country and to make recommendations on the further work that is needed,” Cooper told MPs.

“The specific 2022 independent inquiry report on gang exploitation concluded that an accurate picture of the prevalence of gang exploitation could not be gleaned from the data and evidence that it had available.

“So this audit will seek to fill that gap.”

Cooper said that the audit will look at further evidence not previously available.

“It will include an equivalent audit of children protection referrals.

“It will properly examine ethnicity data and the demographics of the gangs involved and their victims and will look at the cultural and societal drivers for this type of offending, including amongst different ethnic groups.”

Cooper added that the audit would also make recommendations about “further analysis, investigations, and actions that are needed to address current and historic failures”.

Cooper also said that she would write to the National Police Chiefs’ Council on Thursday to ask all chief constables to “look again at historic gang exploitation cases where no further action was taken and to work with the police child sexual exploitation taskforce to pursue new lines of inquiry and reopen investigations where appropriate”.

Speaking at a press conference in London today, the leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch said that local inquiries were not enough. 

“Oldham has decided not to do a local inquiry and ask for a national inquiry because it knows the local inquiries are limited,” the Tory leader said.

“It doesn’t need to take forever. It can have limited terms of reference…all work being done in this space is welcome, but we still need a national inquiry.”

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