The Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs in England and Wales was announced by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in June 2025 and started work in April.
It previously faced turbulence prior to launching, when abuse survivors called on former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to quit amid claims that the government was seeking to widen the scope of the inquiry to other forms of child abuse.
Chaired by former children’s commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield, it has the power to compel individuals and institutions to explain what they “did or did not do to protect children from being sexually abused”.
Alongside national accountability hearings, local investigations will examine what happened in specific areas, including how grooming gangs operated and what institutions knew.
The inquiry has previously said that areas are chosen for investigation based on criteria including how victims and survivors were treated when they came forward, and whether opportunities to prevent harm were missed.
A National Listening Project, inviting victims and survivors to share their experiences, has also been expanded, with people able to contribute through written or recorded submissions from next month.
But Amy Clowrey, a director at Switalskis solicitors, which represents more than 50 survivors who are participating in the national inquiry, warned that clarity was needed over how evidence “from places without a local investigation” would be examined by the inquiry.
The inquiry said its decision to conduct an investigation in Birmingham reflected a combination of factors “including victim and survivor experience, indications of prevalence, harm and risk, and public concern”.
Panel member Zoë Billingham said: “We will look carefully at what organisations knew, how decisions were made, how agencies worked together, and why opportunities to protect children were missed”.
The investigation in Wales will also examine the operation of devolved arrangements and cross-border working between organisations in Wales and England.
The Welsh government welcomed the announcement, and said minister Delyth Jewell had met Baroness Longfield earlier this week to press for “dedicated activity” in Wales as part of the national inquiry.
The Welsh Conservatives and Reform also supported the news. Both parties have previously called for a Wales-only grooming gangs inquiry, but failed to win support from the government under both Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru.
