The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has firmly dismissed suggestions that Government plans for local inquiries into grooming gangs are being scaled back, insisting the reviews will proceed as originally intended.
Speaking in response to growing political criticism, Ms Cooper blamed “party political misinformation” for fuelling claims that the programme – which aims to shine a light on historic child sexual exploitation in five towns, including Oldham – was being quietly watered down.
“Yep. We’re still going ahead. The framework is being drawn up at the moment,” she told LBC when asked whether all the local investigations would take place. “There’s been, sadly, a lot of, I think, party political misinformation about this. What we should be doing is all working together to support victims and survivors of these really vile crimes.”
Pressed further on the matter, she reaffirmed the Government’s commitment: “Yeah, there may be more,” hinting at a possible expansion beyond the initial five locations.
The “victim-centred, locally-led” inquiries were first unveiled in January as part of a wider drive to tackle the persistent and deeply rooted problem of grooming gangs and child sexual abuse. The Government stated that reviews would take place in towns where victims have long alleged institutional failures.
However, concern arose earlier this week when Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips failed to provide a clear update on the inquiries during a statement in the House of Commons. Instead, she focused on a new £5 million fund to support local authority-led work addressing grooming gangs. Ms Phillips explained that, following feedback from councils, the fund would be flexible – enabling authorities to undertake independent inquiries, victims’ panels or audits of historic case handling.
The lack of specificity prompted accusations from the Conservative benches that Labour was weakening its approach. Tory frontbencher Katie Lam accused the Government of “watering them down even further”, while Sir Trevor Phillips, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, called the revised stance “utterly shameful”.
Ms Cooper, however, firmly pushed back against such claims. “What we’re also doing is we’re putting in place stronger measures,” she said. “We’re strengthening the law into these gangs and we’re also increasing police investigations, which is the most important thing of all, because, frankly, these perpetrators should be behind bars.”
She argued that justice for survivors could only be achieved through rigorous police action and ongoing criminal investigations, adding: “If you don’t get the police investigations in place, that won’t happen. That is the best way to get people justice and to keep communities safe.”
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The push for local inquiries follows the landmark findings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Professor Alexis Jay. The seven-year investigation exposed widespread institutional failings and estimated that tens of thousands of children had been victims of abuse in England and Wales. The final report, published in 2022, labelled child sexual abuse as an “epidemic” and issued 20 urgent recommendations.
Despite some campaigners calling for a national review of grooming gangs, the Government has stood by its commitment to locally-led inquiries, arguing they offer greater engagement with affected communities and survivors. A national audit on the prevalence of grooming gangs, led by Baroness Louise Casey, is expected to conclude after Easter.
In a statement, the Home Office confirmed that the £5 million in funding would be made available to all local authorities. “Any claims that the funding has been watered down, or that we are backing down from supporting local inquiries, is patently false,” a spokesperson said. “A flexible approach to funding will allow us to support more than five inquiries.”
The full framework underpinning the Oldham inquiry – which may serve as a model for other local reviews – will be published next month, the Home Office added. Further announcements on how councils can apply for funding are expected in due course.
