Councils ‘covered up grooming gangs scandal'

Telegraph

4 hours ago

A new grooming gangs public inquiry will target areas where councils have covered up scandals.
Baroness Casey, who led an audit into the scale of grooming, has recommended that a national inquiry should be set up to co-ordinate a series of targeted local investigations.
These will be overseen by a new independent commission with full statutory inquiry powers to compel witnesses to attend.
The proposed inquiry should be 'time-limited, targeted and proportionate to the number of victims', to avoid long delays.
The new commission will draw on criminal investigations, including a new nationwide probe by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and evidence from victims and witnesses.
It would have the authority to establish local investigations in areas where statutory services are found to have failed or obstructed justice..
Sir Keir Starmer announced at the weekend that he will accept the recommendations of Lady Casey's 200-page report after previously resisting calls for a national inquiry and accusing proponents of ' jumping on the bandwagon of the far Right '.
The Prime Minister said that he had changed his mind after reading Lady Casey's audit into the scale and nature of grooming gangs which will be published on Monday afternoon.
Her review is understood to have established an explicit link between grooming gangs and men of Pakistani origin. She will confirm concerns that the victims were let down by councils and police by being ' institutionally ignored for fear of racism '.
She will say that there will need to be a process to identify cases and allegations of statutory agencies' failures, with the Government developing criteria to determine the 'types and extent' of failures that could trigger a local hearing.
It is understood that the Government received the report 10 days ago and has already started work on setting up the framework for the inquiry. A chairman is expected to be appointed 'within weeks'.
Sarah Champion, the MP for Rotherham who has campaigned for justice for victims, welcomed an inquiry into the cover-up of grooming scandals.
She said: 'I would say that cover up is a strong word. I would use it to be honest. I have an intense frustration that, not the frontline staff, but further up the management chain, there were people who were actively blocking reports. There are people who, if not held to criminal standards, should be held to a professional standard for their negligence in protecting these children.
'What I saw was those people that would have faced the most criticism have left, taken early retirement, changed to a different job, and some of them are having very successful careers. That's an intense frustration when, because of their negligence, they have let children continue to be exposed, exploited and not secure justice.'
Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor for north west England, said he was sceptical about whether a national inquiry could deliver justice but believed the national investigation by the NCA could do so.
He added: 'Only criminal investigations can bring real accountability. That's where you can use all the powers police have in terms of investigation and going through all the documents, and then interviewing people under caution.
'That's what needs to happen, and that's what I've always been for, is not just those who offended but also those who stood by and did not do what they were meant to do. That's how you deliver accountability. And unfortunately, my experience of national inquiries is that they take forever and don't deliver accountability.'
Sammy Woodhouse, a victim, said of a new national inquiry: 'It needs to investigate every single council and police force in this country. It needs to be independent, and it needs to have the statutory power.
'I want people named. We need to name, shame and bring these people to account, because not one person has been set to account yet. We hear that lessons have been learnt, well, no lessons have been learnt because we're still here. We're still decades on, trying to fight for this, and still, of course, happening today.'
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: 'The vulnerable young girls who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of groups of adult men have now grown into brave women who are rightly demanding justice for what they went through when they were just children.
'Not enough people listened to them then. That was wrong and unforgivable. We are changing that now.'
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the inquiry must consider 'whether officials and public servants who covered up or turned a blind eye to the rapes should be investigated for the crime of misconduct in public office'.
He added: 'Keir Starmer's inquiry u-turn is too little, too late. He smeared those, including me, calling for a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal as 'far-Right' and now he's been forced into a u-turn by the bite we planned next week and the imminent Casey report.
'The NCA announcement is a desperate smokescreen cooked up over the weekend to distract from Labour's failures.
'Labour spent six months blocking a statutory inquiry. That is six months of delayed justice. Yvette Cooper led the opposition to an inquiry, and now she pretends she thinks it's a great idea. Labour needs to get a grip and put the survivors of these appalling crimes first.
'We need a proper inquiry with full powers to uncover the truth.'