The independent inquiry into grooming gangs will conduct local investigations in Birmingham and Wales, it was announced on Wednesday. The inquiry, chaired by former children's commissioner Anne Longfield, has the power to compel witnesses and obtain documents to examine what individuals and agencies “did or did not do to protect children from being sexually abused”.
Background and scope
The problem has affected Britain for decades, with thousands of girls raped, beaten and drugged by groups of adult men. The offending has been linked to the deaths of several teenagers. The government faced backlash last year – including from Elon Musk, owner of X – when it initially refused to fund a statutory inquiry into abuse in Oldham, Greater Manchester. It eventually agreed to hold a national inquiry after a recommendation by crossbench peer Louise Casey, who carried out an audit.
The inquiry will conduct local investigations and examine the national picture, including the response of agencies such as the police, NHS, and local and central government. The Welsh strand will focus on offending across the country rather than one town or city, with cross-party backing in the Senedd for such an investigation.
Wales investigation
A number of police operations have targeted grooming gangs in Wales. Last week, four men were jailed for abusing teenage girls in Rhyl, Denbighshire, between 2022 and 2024, in relation to exploitation centred on a coffee house. Amy Clowrey, a director at Switalskis solicitors, which represents a number of Welsh survivors, said: “It’s not just an English problem. The survivors I represent, and have represented, have always felt [Wales] has been overlooked in the national conversation.”
The inquiry said its Welsh investigation “will provide an important opportunity to examine safeguarding and multi-agency responses, the operation of devolved arrangements, and cross-border working between organisations in Wales and England”. Longfield said: “Victims and survivors in Wales have waited too long for answers. This work is about establishing the truth, delivering accountability, and setting out clearly what must change so children are better protected in the future.”
Birmingham investigation
Grooming gangs have also been known to operate extensively in Birmingham. In 2010, police documents uncovered by the Birmingham Mail revealed that offenders were targeting children at schools and children’s homes, with a large proportion from the city’s Pakistani-heritage community. Four years later, Birmingham city council went to court to secure landmark injunctions against a number of men to stop them approaching underage girls.
Victims from other parts of the West Midlands have been trafficked into Birmingham to be abused. A previous inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford, Shropshire, was told that concerns were raised about this problem as far back as the 1990s. The inquiry said the investigation “will focus initially on Birmingham but may extend to surrounding, connected or satellite areas where the evidence supports it”.
Wider context and next steps
In June, the inquiry announced its first dedicated investigations, focusing on Oldham, London, Bradford and Keighley. It will also examine whether agencies in areas that have previously held inquiries into grooming gangs – such as Telford, Rochdale, Oxford and Rotherham – have adequately addressed the recommendations made. A central theme across the investigations will be the role played by “ethnicity, religion and culture” in gang-based exploitation.
Lady Casey found that men from “Asian ethnic backgrounds” were overrepresented in recent police investigations into grooming gangs in parts of the north of England. However, she said it had been difficult to paint an accurate national picture due to a lack of data. She said: “More effort is required to identify the nature of group-based child sexual exploitation and why it appears men of Asian and Pakistani ethnicity are disproportionately represented in some areas, in order to understand it better and to tackle it more effectively.”
Many survivors of group-based sexual exploitation have said they were targeted by “street grooming” gangs, particularly those operating from takeaways and taxi companies. Others say they were introduced to offenders by their peers or family members. Frontline workers say that as social media platforms have developed, children are increasingly being targeted by networks of perpetrators online.
The national inquiry will look at the evolving nature of exploitation by grooming gangs and the potential role played by technology. It will run parallel to Operation Beaconport, an investigation being carried out by the National Crime Agency. It will also operate a “national listening project” so victims and their families can outline the impact of the abuse.
