Home Secretary unveils new measures to tackle grooming gangs

Yvette Cooper has set out new measures that she says will “finally deliver change and action for survivors of grooming gang crimes to get justice”.

Survivors and victims will be able to ask for their closed cases to be reviewed by an independent criminal justice review panel where their previous investigations were not taken forward to prosecution by the police or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The Home Secretary is writing to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) requesting officers look again at these unsolved and closed grooming gangs cases, backed by £2.5 million in funding for stronger investigations.

Ms Cooper has pledged that by Easter this year the Government will lay out a clear timetable for taking forward the recommendations in the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) report.

It will also provide new national backing for locally-led inquiries, backed by £5 million of funding.

Working in partnership with Tom Crowther KC, the chair of the impactful Telford Inquiry into grooming gangs, the Home Office will develop a new effective framework for victim-centred, locally-led inquiries, and work with Oldham Council and four other pilot areas to implement it.

It will also develop new ways for councils to work locally with victims. Further work is underway as part of the forthcoming Hillsborough Law and the duty of candour to boost the accountability mechanisms that support and follow up on local inquiries, ensuring that public servants that fail victims are properly held to account.

At the same time, the Home Secretary has unveiled a rapid national audit to uncover the scale and profile of group-based offending in the UK today, including ethnicity.

Ms Cooper has commissioned this audit led by Baroness Louise Casey to examine existing data and evidence to draw a comprehensive picture of the nature, scale and profile of group-based child sexual abuse offending identified by police and agencies, and equip law enforcement with the information and understanding they need to combat these crimes.

Dhe says this analysis of data and evidence “will allow us to deliver quicker change on the recommendations in the IICSA report”.

Baroness Casey is well placed to conduct this audit, given her no holds barred 2015 report following the Jay inquiry into child sexual exploitation committed by Pakistani-heritage gangs in Rotherham.

The audit will begin soon and last three months. It will be supported by an expert advisory board and draw on the views of victims and survivors. This work, including the new Victims and Survivors Panel and work with Mr Crowther KC, will be backed by £2.5 million in funding.

In an oral statement in the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon (January 16), Ms Cooper said: “Nothing matters more than the safety of our children. Yet for too long, this horrific abuse was allowed to continue. The victims were ignored. The perpetrators were left unpunished. Too many people looked the other way.

“And even when these shocking crimes were brought to light, and national inquiries were commissioned to get to the truth, the resulting reports were too often left on the shelf as their recommendations gathered dust.

“We are taking action not just on those recommendations, but on the additional work we need protect victims, put perpetrators behind bars and to uncover the truth wherever things have gone wrong.

“This is about the protection of children, the protection of young girls, and the radical and ambitious mission we have set for this government to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

“We have already announced we will introduce a mandatory reporting duty for those working with children to report sexual abuse as part of the Crime and Policing Bill and legislate to make grooming an aggravating factor when sentencing child sexual offences – so punishments properly fit the crime.

“We will ensure police learn lessons from the past and make all 43 forces improve data collection on child sexual abuse – including ethnicity.”

Of the 115,000 child sexual exploitation and abuse offences recorded in 2023 by police, more than 4,000 of them were group-based offending.  Of those, around 1,100 involved abuse within the family, and over 300 involved abuse in institutions, whilst over 700 of them were group-based grooming gang offences.

However, the Home Office says the vast majority of child sexual exploitation and abuse goes unidentified and unreported and it expects this to be a “significant underestimate”.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said: “Child sexual abuse and exploitation is one of the most harrowing crimes anyone could face. I have dedicated many years of my life to tackling it, both before I was a government minister, and now I have never been more steadfast in my resolve to protect more children and arrest more appalling perpetrators.

“But change is about deeds, not words. That’s why we are working quickly to empower more victims to get justice by giving more the right to request their cases are re-examined, and making sure survivors are a core part of the rapid audit of existing evidence in these heartbreaking cases.

“Our work does not stop here. We are also urging police forces to look again at closed and unsolved cases on their files, to ensure they pursue criminals and put them behind bars so they cannot hurt anyone else.”

In a joint statement, NPCC lead for child protection and abuse investigation, Assistant Chief Constable Rebecca Riggs, and director of the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Taskforce, Richard Fewkes, said: “We welcome the investment in the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce and are encouraged by the ongoing commitment to protect children and address this critical issue.

“The ambitions set out will not be easy, it requires resource when demand on policing is high however, this new investment equips us with additional tools and resources to increase our impact in supporting victims and survivors. It enables us to strengthen collaboration with our partners and stakeholders to ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for those who need it.

“Since its establishment, the taskforce has made significant strides in improving policing efforts to enhance our response to CSE to ensure further meaningful action is taken to empower victims and survivors to come forward but there is more to do working closely with our partners, coordinating the national response, and maintaining continuous collaboration to ensure we meet the needs of victims and survivors with the utmost care and urgency.”

Arooj Shah, leader of Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “This government intervention today will transform the next steps for Oldham.

“These new measures will empower the victims to achieve the justice they deserve and support police in their vital work.”

The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, said: “I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement to the House on tackling child sexual abuse. For me, one thing is clear: the needs of victims and survivors must always come first.

“Earlier this week, I wrote to the Home Secretary, emphasising that protecting and supporting survivors must remain our top priority. Those who come forward must be supported with life-saving therapeutic services and must never be left to shoulder their burden alone.

“In her inquiry report, Professor Alexis Jay recommended the government introduce a national guarantee, ensuring that child victims of sexual abuse are offered specialist and accredited therapeutic support. I welcome the government’s commitment to this, and to set a timetable for implementing all the IICSA recommendations. This must include the fast-tracking of that national guarantee.

“It is crucial that children receive the support they need. But we must not forget there are also many adult survivors who need help and support, who are unable to access the services they require. The government must extend this commitment to adult survivors, with new dedicated funding made available.

“I welcome the Home Secretary’s announcement of robust local inquiries. These inquiries must be rooted in the experiences of victims and survivors, and I am encouraged by the involvement of Tom Crowther KC. The new framework for victim-centred inquiries, including support for local victim panels and involving victim-survivors in the design, is a positive step forward.

“However, while these inquiries rely on the testimony of victims, we too often fail to recognise the personal toll this process takes on victims. These inquiries must guarantee dedicated specialist wraparound support to ensure victims do not risk being retraumatised or left to face the trauma alone.

“We must uncover the full scale and nature of the abuse, and I welcome the involvement of Baroness Casey on the rapid audit. Yet we know that the data captured is still inadequate. In her report, Professor Jay recommended a core dataset capturing key data on victims and perpetrators, consistent across public agencies. Yet this was not what was outlined in the Home Secretary’s statement last week. Such a dataset is critical for understanding and preventing future child sexual abuse, and I urge the government to take this recommendation forward in full.

“Other commitments, too, also require further scrutiny. The effectiveness of the mandatory reporting requirement will hinge on social care, health, and justice professionals receiving the necessary training to recognise signs of abuse, as well as adequate resources to manage the increased referrals. Without these measures, we risk abuse continuing to go undetected and underreported.

“There is much to commend in the Home Secretary’s statement, but now is the time for victims’ voices to be heard and for meaningful action to follow. These victims and survivors must receive the protection and life-saving therapeutic support they need and deserve—we cannot, and must not, fail them once again.”

Lucy Duckworth, national policy lead for The Survivors Trust, said: “It’s really good news that IICSA’s recommendations are finally to be acted upon. As a whole programme of change, IICSA’s recommendations will bring about fundamental and cultural change in how we protect children from sexual abuse of any form and how we support victims and survivors to recover from the trauma they experienced.

“We look forward to working with the Government and partner agencies to support this work. As we go forward it is essential that we ensure specialist support is available for all survivors at the time and in the location they need.”

ACT on IICSA said the Home Secretary’s commitment marks “a pivotal step” in addressing the systemic issues surrounding child sexual abuse.

“It ensures that survivors’ voices lead the way in creating change,” it added and represents a “major milestone” for the 7,500 victims who shared their testimonies and the more than 200 dedicated staff who worked tirelessly at IICSA.

“We emphasise again that the devastating and serious crime of child sexual abuse must never be politicised or weaponised for any purpose other than safeguarding children,” it said. “This is why we are so pleased to see the Home Secretary treating this issue with the gravitas it deserves. While an ambitious work plan lies ahead, today we take a crucial step toward lasting change. By embracing and implementing these measures, we can move forward with renewed purpose and determination.”

“This is a significant milestone in our journey,” said Fay Maxted, CEO of The Survivors Trust and ACT on IICSA steering member. “I, along with many other survivors, look forward to working closely with the government through the implementation process to turn these recommendations into real action. Together, we can forge a future where all forms of sexual abuse are eradicated.”

The Government is also working to tackle online predators of child sexual abuse, through a £11 million investment in an undercover online network of police officers and £5 million investment in the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID).

Investment continues to be made in a range of other work to strengthen law enforcement capacity and capability to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, including providing £6.5 million this year for the Tackling Organised Exploitation Programme (TOEX), which brings together local, regional and national data to ensure police can effectively uncover and prosecute exploitation.