National Grooming Gangs Inquiry to Proceed After Months of Delays — Baroness Anne Longfield Appointed Chair

December 9th – Westminster - After months of political wrangling and procedural delays, the UK Government has confirmed that the long-awaited national inquiry into grooming gangs will finally move ahead. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced on Tuesday that Baroness Anne Longfield, former Children’s Commissioner for England, will chair the investigation.

In a statement to Parliament, Mahmood clarified elements of the inquiry’s terms of reference, stressing that the national probe will have stronger statutory powers than local investigations. These powers will enable the inquiry to compel witnesses to give evidence and require agencies — including police forces — to hand over relevant documents.

Baroness Longfield has pledged to approach the investigation with complete independence, promising the inquiry, “will not shy away from difficult or uncomfortable truths wherever we find them”. Mahmood echoed this sentiment, saying the process will, “go where the evidence takes them”, and will engage with incomplete but concerning datasets suggesting possible patterns in perpetrator profiles, including claims of an overrepresentation of Pakistani men involved in certain cases.

Several MPs welcomed the decision to keep the inquiry terms broad, arguing this was essential to ensure all relevant evidence and experiences could be considered. Mahmood drew attention to past reports into social work and policing failures, which she described as exposing 'shocking' attitudes toward vulnerable young girls.

The inquiry’s terms of reference underline a commitment to placing survivors’ perspectives at the centre of the process. A survivor’s panel will consult on the draft terms over the coming months, with the intention of shaping a process that is both thorough and sensitive to those affected.

However, some survivors have voiced concerns that the focus is already too narrow. Sam Walker-Roberts, a member of the government’s survivor panel who has waived her right to anonymity, said she fears the inquiry’s emphasis on, “grooming gangs”, risks excluding significant stories of abuse that fall under, “group-based offending”, more broadly.

“It means half my story isn’t relevant to this report”, she told reporters. “It has silenced hundreds of survivors across the country who are still waiting for justice. It feels like the government has given into peer pressure, because a certain narrative has been peddled in public”.

The inquiry’s full work plan is expected to be published early next year, signalling the start of what is likely to be a complex and deeply scrutinised process. Survivors’ groups, campaigners, and MPs from across the political spectrum will be watching closely to see whether the investigation can deliver on its promise of truth and accountability.