A new report by Baroness Louise Casey has revealed that a culture of “blindness, ignorance and prejudice” led to repeated failures in investigating child sexual abuse by grooming gangs. The review, commissioned by the Home Office, found that authorities had shied away from addressing the ethnicity of offenders, allowing abuse to continue for decades.
The report highlighted an “over-representation” of Asian and Pakistani heritage men among suspects in local data from Greater Manchester, West and South Yorkshire. However, it criticised the lack of robust national data, noting that ethnicity is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the government would accept all 12 recommendations from the review, including a statutory public inquiry into institutional failures. This marks a significant shift after months of pressure on Labour to act on the issue.
Casey’s recommendations include making the collection of ethnicity and nationality data mandatory for all child sexual abuse suspects, tightening the law on rape charges for penetrative offences against children under 16, and coordinating five existing local inquiries under an independent commission with statutory powers.
The review also found that a significant proportion of suspects in live investigations were non-UK nationals, some claiming asylum. Cooper told the Commons that the number of cold cases to be reviewed could exceed 1,000 in the coming weeks.
