Yvette Cooper announces inquiry into new local grooming gang
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans to provide £5 million for five government-backed local investigations into grooming gangs.
He said Tom Crowther, who led the investigation in Telford, will help Oldham and four other pilot areas, which have not yet been named, develop their own reviews.
Cooper also announced a “rapid” audit to examine the ethnicity and demographics of the gangs and their victims, as well as the “cultural drivers” behind crime.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Phillips said it was “grossly inadequate” for the government to support only five local investigations and asked what support would be available for other areas.
He also expressed concern that local investigations would not have the power to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence under oath.
Between 1997 and 2013, towns and cities – including Oldham and Rotherham – were affected by gangs of men, mainly of Pakistani origin, who raped and trafficked children as young as 11 years old.
One Independent report published in 2014 by Professor Alexis J.It is estimated that 1,400 girls were abused in Rotherham. He later led the National Review of Child Sexual Abuse, which lasted seven years and made 20 recommendations when it was published in 2022.
Conservatives have argued that the report does not adequately examine grooming gangs and called for a new national inquiry.
In recent days three Labor MPs also publicly expressed support for a national inquiry – Dan Cardon, Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, and Rochdale MP Paul Waugh.
Other senior Labor figures, including Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, also joined the call and said they would support limited new investigations.
The issue has been thrust into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has criticized the prime minister for not calling a national inquiry.
Musk responded to Cooper’s announcement on his X platform, saying: “I hope this is a fair investigation.”
Professor Jay last week rejected calls for a new national inquiry, saying victims wanted to see action taken on his recommendations and that a new inquiry would be delayed.
The Prime Minister and Labor ministers have said that their priority is to implement the Jay recommendations, and Cooper announced that one of the key points – mandatory reporting – will be added to the Crime and Policing Bill.
In a statement in the House of Commons, Cooper said that despite Professor Jay’s report and other investigations, “shamefully little progress has been made”.
“This has to change,” he said, adding that by Easter, the government will set out a “clear timetable” for implementing the Jay report’s recommendations.
Cooper argued that “effective local inquiries can go into far greater local details and provide more locally relevant answers and changes than 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, investing £5 million to “get work started on the ground”.
Pressed on whether the inquiry would have legal powers to call witnesses, Cooper said different approaches could be taken and that the government would work with local mayors and local councils to “ensure that we To strengthen the accountability system.
