Former chair of child abuse inquiry says another one would only delay action.H
Prof Alexis Jay calls for recommendations in 2022 report on child sexual abuse in England and Wales to be implemented
There should be no more inquiries into grooming gangs because it would further delay action by government, the former chair of an inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales has said.
Prof Alexis Jay said there had already been a delay of more than two years in implementing her independent inquiry into child sexual abuse report and that “the time has passed for more inquiries”.
Her comments came after demands for a new inquiry looking at all instances of grooming gang scandals – from Oldham to Telford and Oxford – which was sparked by posts on X by the tech billionaire Elon Musk and backed by the Reform leader, Nigel Farage, and the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch.
On Monday, Starmer condemned Musk’s attacks on the government, suggesting his “lies and misinformation” on grooming gangs were amplifying the “poison” of the far right. But Starmer’s comments also drew criticism for associating concern about paedophile gangs with the far right.
Jay, who authored a comprehensive report on child sexual exploitation including the mass child sexual abuse in Rotherham, predominantly by men of Pakistani heritage, distanced herself from calls for a new wider inquiry into grooming gangs.
“We have learned quite a lot from those reviews that have already been undertaken. But locally, people need to step up to the mark and do the sorts of things that have been recommended,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think there are something like 400 recommendations that we identified … in all the reviews that had already been carried out, and many of those were simply not met.
“We’ve had enough of inquiries, consultations and discussions, and especially for those victims and survivors who’ve had the courage to come forward … they clearly want action, and we have set out what action is required, and people should just get on with it locally and nationally.”
Jay said that a new inquiry into grooming gangs would “certainly cause delays”.
She declined to criticise Musk directly, who criticised Starmer and the safeguarding minister, Jess Philips, who had written to Oldham council saying a local inquiry into grooming gangs in their area – similar to the Rotherham inquiry – was more appropriate than a nationwide one.
“I’ve certainly been very unhappy about the politicisation of child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse in the way that many people, sometimes in a very uninformed way, have waded into the argument,” Jay said.
“I’ve heard very little in the public discourse that’s taken place in the last few days – if you could dignify it with that description – that have mentioned children and the appalling and lifelong effects that child sexual abuse can have on people.”
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has promised to implement a key demand from Jay’s child sexual abuse inquiry – that professionals who work with children face criminal sanctions if they fail to report claims of child sexual abuse, under a law to be introduced this year.
The introduction of mandatory reporting in England would be included in the crime and policing bill expected to be introduced to parliament in the spring, Cooper told parliament.
Jay said she would not criticise the Labour government for not implementing the review’s recommendations sooner. “This is definitely not the way I would have chosen for it to happen, but it has had the effect of moving on the agenda.
“We have a relatively new government in place, and myself and others in the campaigning group have been interacting with the government, although not extensively, but nevertheless, we would have hoped that we were moving in the direction of implementation.”
Similar plans for a mandatory reporting obligation on professionals were supposed to be introduced last year as part of Rishi Sunak’s criminal justice bill, but campaigners and lawyers heavily criticised them for being “watered down”.
