Highlights
- First national public accountability hearings due by end of 2026
- Focus on failures by police, councils, NHS, CPS and other bodies
- Oldham, Bradford and Keighley, and London chosen for first local investigations
- More than 800 past recommendations to be reviewed
A STATUTORY inquiry into the sexual abuse of children by organised groups will begin local investigations in Oldham, Bradford and Keighley, and London, it was announced on Wednesday (24). Further areas will be named over the coming months.
The areas were chosen based on victim testimony, evidence of harm, previous reviews, unresolved concerns, and levels of public attention, a statement said.
Chair of the inquiry, Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, said its aim is to understand “why this catastrophic failure of the state happened and continues to happen”, and why victims and survivors were not protected. The first national public accountability hearings will begin by the end of the year.
The inquiry will compel senior figures from institutions including government departments, police forces, councils, the Crown Prosecution Service, the NHS and other public bodies to explain what action they took—or failed to take—to protect children over many years.
It will also examine whether repeated warnings and recommendations from previous investigations were ignored or only partly implemented.
Baroness Longfield said, "There have been many inquiries and reviews into child sexual exploitation and abuse over the past 20 years, putting forward over 800 recommendations, many of which have not been implemented. These hearings will help us to establish what national institutions and services should have been doing to implement these findings and to protect children from abuse and harm - and what, if any, progress has been made in areas where investigations have taken place.
“We are determined that our work ensures that no further inquiries into grooming gangs will ever be needed.”
According to the statement, the first national hearings will be followed by a second phase reviewing areas that have already been the subject of earlier inquiries or major reports. A third strand will examine the role of technology companies in enabling or failing to prevent exploitation.
Home secretary appointed Baroness Anne Longfield CBE as chair, with panellists Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE in December last year Getty Images/iStockphoto
Oldham will be examined first
Oldham will be among the first to be examined. Work has already begun there, following earlier findings that raised serious concerns about past failures by local agencies.
Bradford and Keighley will also be investigated, following long-standing allegations and repeated calls from victims, campaigners and local representatives for a full inquiry into institutional failures.
In London, the inquiry will examine how cases of child sexual abuse were handled across multiple boroughs and overlapping systems, reflecting the city’s size and complexity. It will also consider links with surrounding areas and whether wider networks of abuse operated across boundaries.
London will be assessed as part of a broader national pattern, rather than a single local authority structure, the statement added. Also, previously reviewed locations will be reassessed to determine whether earlier recommendations were properly implemented.
Victims and Survivors Charter
The inquiry has also published a Victims and Survivors Charter, developed with victims and survivors, setting out how they will be supported to give evidence safely and shape the investigation.
Zoe Billingham CBE, a panel member of the inquiry, said the work would be “forensic” in examining how decisions were made and why opportunities to prevent harm were missed.
Billingham said, "We will continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads, gathering and analysing evidence from across England and Wales, including from areas not yet selected for a local investigation."
Eleanor Kelly CBE said the charter placed victims and survivors at the centre of the process, ensuring they could come forward with support and have their experiences properly heard.
The inquiry stressed that its aim is not only to identify failures in individual cases, but to understand systemic weaknesses across policing, social care, education and health services over several decades.
It said its findings would feed into national recommendations, which will be tracked over time and revisited through follow-up hearings to ensure they are implemented.
The inquiry, established under the Inquiries Act 2005, is independent of government and has legal powers to compel witnesses and demand evidence from public bodies. It is expected to run for up to three years with a budget of £65 million.
