Fresh calls for Council to back national grooming gang inquiry

Yahoo

2 days ago

BRADFORD Conservatives have repeated their calls for Council bosses to back a national public inquiry into child rape gangs.
The call came after party leader Kemi Badenoch visited the district to speak to a victim of a Bradford grooming gang, who has called for a full public inquiry that can compel witnesses to give evidence under oath and look at all the issues across county boundaries.
But Bradford Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe argued that the recommendations from a previous inquiry into the issue, which took seven years and cost more than £185m, were not implemented by the previous Government, which Mrs Badenoch was a part of.
Following the visit this week, Councillor Rebecca Poulsen, Leader of the Conservative and Queensbury Independent Group on Bradford Council said: 'It is disappointing at both a national and local level, to see Jess Phillips MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Children, along with Councillor Susan Hinchliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, repeatedly refusing to support a full, nationwide, public inquiry with statutory powers into the child rape gangs, particularly when numerous victims, those who support them, Members of Parliament, and 77 per cent of the public have made repeated demands for such an inquiry.
'I want to pay tribute to the victims of this abhorrent crime.
"Despite a rapid three-month review by Baroness Casey being announced in January by the Home Secretary, we are nearly into June with no publication of this review.
'The visit to Bradford by the Leader of the Conservative Party provided a clear message that this issue is not going to go away until the victims are put first and the will of the people prevails.
'Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore has been campaigning tirelessly for an independent national inquiry since becoming a local MP in 2019 and has raised his frustration over the Labour Party blocking this at both local and national level.
'We would have thought that all councillors across Bradford would be desperate for a statutory public inquiry in order to alleviate the suspicion and reputational damage that comes with obstructing transparency and whilst we know that some of the Council's failings regarding this issue took place whilst the Council was Conservative-led, that isn't stopping my colleagues and I from calling for an inquiry at a time when victims, more than three in four people and a cross party coalition of senior political figures want a full nationwide public inquiry with statutory powers to call witnesses to give evidence under oath."
Bradford City Hall (Image: T&A)
She added: 'The truth must come out, even if it means heads might roll; no one other than the victims should be protected. It is incumbent upon all members of the Council to call for an inquiry, and if there is nothing to hide or lose, what is the problem?'
Replying to Cllr Poulsen's comments, Councillor Hinchcliffe said: 'We're very clear: child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an appalling crime that blights victims' lives. Anyone who commits such crimes must face the full force of the law.
'The ongoing successful prosecutions of historic CSE cases shows that no matter who you are or when the crime took place, you will be prosecuted.
'In Bradford, we're very open about how we tackle CSE.
'We have published more than 70 reports in recent years, including to cross-party committees, where councillors have asked questions and discussed CSE. These committees are open to the public and the media to attend.
"An independently authored review into historic CSE cases in the Bradford district between 2001 and 2021 has been published, and we've worked with our partners to implement the review's findings.
'Nationally, we have already had an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) to which Bradford contributed.
'This inquiry was completed in 2022, took seven years, and cost over £185m.
'The last Government never implemented any of its recommendations. Our ask, and one that we hope all parties share, is that the recommendations from this review are implemented at pace. This is the best way in which we can protect our children in the here and now.'
The Home Office has previously said that it is "wholly dedicated to delivering justice for all victims".
A spokesperson said: "The grooming scandal was one of the greatest failures in our country's history, with vulnerable young people let down time again and again.
'We have already committed to supporting local authorities through our £5 million fund for local areas, the best practice framework for local inquiries and commissioned a rapid national audit to uncover the true scale of grooming gangs in the UK today, including looking at ethnicity.
"We are also making it a criminal offence to cover up any report of child sexual abuse."