National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is Launched

This article is written by Stuart Marchant, Priyesh Patel, Claire Leonard, Dan Purcell, George Riach, and Kate Taunton.

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs has now begun. The formal start date was 13 April 2026 and the Terms of Reference have been set. 

Baroness Casey chairs the Inquiry as part of a three-person panel with Zoë Billingham and Eleanor Kelly. 

Background

The Government has made a commitment to strengthen the current legislative framework in order to combat child sexual exploitation in a number of ways. Please refer to our previous article for a summary.

Baroness Casey previously published a National Audit into child sexual exploitation, please refer to our previous article.

As part of its package of reforms, the Government recently launched a consultation on the creation of a new Child Protection Authority (‘CPA’) in England and Wales. Please refer to our previous article for more information.

The Inquiry

The Inquiry into Grooming Gangs will be a series of local investigations, overseen by the national panel with full statutory powers. 

The Terms of Reference put victims and survivors at the centre of the Inquiry’s approach, with trauma-informed engagement and support appropriately provided.

The Terms of Reference place particular emphasis on examining institutional failures, obstruction, denial, and failures of statutory services to protect children. 

The Inquiry is also specifically tasked with looking at whether factors such as ethnicity, religion, culture, or concerns about community relations influenced official responses.

For local authorities, we would expect the inquiry to look not only at whether abuse occurred, but also:

• What officials knew and when.
• Whether warnings were ignored.
• Whether victims were believed and supported.
• Whether information was shared with police and other agencies.
• Whether concerns about race, community cohesion, reputation, or political sensitivities affected decision-making.

It would be productive for authorities to start to think about shaping their narrative with regard to those question from the outset as the Inquiry will ask those questions either in writing or during oral examination. 

 Action points for public bodies – what you can do now

• With the criteria for local area selection due this summer, how can your organisation prepare?
• Disclosure of evidence – check your document preservation systems now to ensure relevant information is preserved
• Appoint a Senior Responsible Officer for inquiry preparedness
• Create cross-departmental inquiry response group that includes Children’s service, Legal, Governance, Information Governance, Licensing and Community safety
• Identify current and former stagg who may hold relevant knowledge
• Prepare for evidence requests by creating a secure digital space to start storing all relevant evidence
• Inform all relevant partners and colleagues about evidence preservation and system Carry out internal investigations into cases of grooming in your area, look at areas for improvement, re-write policy, make the changes needed now
• Engage your safeguarding leads now. Be pro-active – come and talk to us early and we can help you optimise your compliance
• Critically review the support you have available for victims and survivors and consider how survivors will be engaged and signposted to support services

Hillsborough Law 

It is anticipated that the Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2025, commonly known as Hillsborough Law, will pass into legislation in late 2026. It will impose a Duty of Candour on public bodies (and private organisations in some circumstances) to act with candour, transparency and frankness in their dealings with inquiries. This includes a pro-active duty to engage with an inquiry where they have grounds to believe their conduct may be relevant of the hold relevant information. The Bill will drastically change how public bodies engage with inquiries and it will be important to take early advice to ensure compliance. 

Given this amplified Duty of Candor, authorities should not wait for formal disclosure requests from the Inquiry. Document preservation notices should be prepared and local authorities should immediately preserve (amongst others):

Internal records

1. Child protection and safeguarding records
2. Multi-agency safeguarding meeting minutes
3. Serious case reviews and internal investigations

Communications

1. Emails between council officers
2. Communications with police, schools, health services and charities

Policies and decision-making

1. Safeguarding policies and procedures in force at the relevant time
2. Training records
3. Minutes of council committees and executive meetings where child sexual exploitation was discussed

Personnel and accountability

1. Whistleblowing complaints

Data and statistics

1. Information about identified victims and perpetrators 
2. Information showing how cases were classified, escalated or closed

Scope

• The Inquiry will operate for no more than three years, within a budget of £65 million 
• The inquiry will examine failures in tackling grooming gangs across England and Wales. A separate inquiry into group-based child sexual abuse in Scotland will be established by the Scottish Government.
• The Inquiry is unable to determine criminal or civil liability. For all criminal allegations or evidence from 1996 to the end of the Inquiry a referral will be made to Operation Beaconport – an operation that was recommended in Baroness Casey’s National Audit and which is overseen by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
• The Inquiry must examine issues arising between 1 January 1996 and 31 March 2029. 
• The Inquiry will consider which local areas to review. 
• Baroness Longfield has confirmed that Oldham will have a local investigation. The Chair and panel are considering the other locations. No area will be able to resist a local investigation.
• Local investigations will examine the actions of police, councils, social services, and other agencies, both locally and nationally to identify where failures occurred and hold those responsible to account.

Key dates

• 13 April 2026: The formal setting-up date of the Inquiry, as per section 5(1)(a) of the Inquiries Act 2005
• 13 July 2026 The criteria used to select local areas will be published 
• By 13 July 2026 the Chair and Panel must determine what must be delivered within this timeframe and budget (and dates for those deliverables) and agree that assessment with the Home Secretary
• By 13 October 2026: Operation Beaconport and the Inquiry should jointly publish a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This document must set out the principles, protocols, and mechanisms for collaboration between the Inquiry and policing colleagues
• The final report must be submitted to the Home Secretary by 31 March 2029
• The Inquiry may publish interim reports and emerging findings during its three-year duration in relation to both local investigations (as set out in section 4.6), and national findings 

Our expertise

Inquiries and Investigations Support - How can we help?

• Our teams are working with clients involved in many of the largest public inquiries including those looking into Infected Blood, Covid-19, Horizon Inquiry, Grenfell Inquiry, Manchester Arean Inquiry, Windrush Review, Lucy Letby, Mental Health Deaths in Essex, and the Treatment of Valdo Calocane. We have worked as Solicitor to the Inquiry, as well as representing Core Participants, advising clients throughout the inquiry process, including the following:
  • Preparing for an inquiry – document identification and retention
  • Preparing narratives that are helpful to the Inquiry , sympathetic to victims while also putting forward a firm and factual account of what actually happened
  • Advising on the pros and cons of applying for Core Participant status
  • Managing engagement with the inquiry and responding to Rule 9 requests
  • Identifying and advising on potential conflicts of interest
  • Preparation of witness statements, including corporate and individual statements
  • Witness familiarisation with the inquiry process including preparation for giving evidence
  • Reviewing material disclosed by the inquiry
  • Advice on confidentiality and data protection
  • Managing engagement with current and former staff
  • Anticipating reputational risk and supporting with internal and external communications
  • Procedural challenges to inquiries
  • Advice on inquiry warning letters
  • Advice on adopting a trauma-informed approach
• Lawyers in our team have also spent several years leading litigation against the Rochdale and Rotherham Grooming Gangs on behalf of Government and advising local authorities on the adequacy of CSE policy and process. 

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