Major questions as city added to grooming gangs inquiry

There have been calls and vows to uncover the truth after a national grooming gangs inquiry announced recently that it would expand to Birmingham.

But what does this development mean for the city, as well as the victims and survivors of child sexual exploitation?

The independent inquiry revealed that targeted investigations will take place in Birmingham and Wales in a bid to “examine the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by grooming gangs”.

It also said that probes will look at the “response of organisations responsible for protecting children”.

Such investigations will examine whether victims and survivors were heard and supported, as well as what lessons must be learned to prevent future abuse and harm.

The inquiry has full legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence and require organisations and individuals to provide documents and information.

So what will the inquiry look at in particular? How can the voices of victims and survivors be heard? And what has been the political reaction so far? Here are some of the key questions answered.

What’s the history behind the inquiry?

The inquiry was set up after a national audit found repeated failures to protect children from organised sexual abuse and formally began its work earlier this year in March.

It will include both national accountability hearings and local investigations and is expected to conclude by March 2029.

Oldham in Greater Manchester, Bradford and Keighley in West Yorkshire and London were announced as the first locations before Birmingham and Wales were added recently.

Why was Birmingham chosen?

The inquiry says Birmingham was selected because current information provides a “strong basis” for examining how organisations identify and respond to child sexual exploitation across a large metropolitan area.

It added that the investigation offers an “important opportunity” to examine

accountability, safeguarding and partnership working across Birmingham.

What will be examined in Birmingham?

Zoë Billingham CBE, an inquiry panellist, said: “The local area investigation in Birmingham will allow us to examine these issues in depth and understand how safeguarding systems operated in practice.

“We will look carefully at what organisations knew, how decisions were made, how agencies worked together, and why opportunities to protect children were missed.

“What we learn through these investigations will help us build a clearer national picture and inform the inquiry’s wider findings and recommendations.”

Could the inquiry be expanded further in the West Midlands?

The recent announcement said the local area investigation will focus initially on Birmingham but may extend to surrounding, connected or satellite areas “where the evidence supports it”.

“The precise geographical and evidential scope will be developed as evidence is gathered,” it continued.

How will the voices of victims and survivors be heard?

The inquiry said its National Listening Project enables victims and survivors, family members, friends and survivor groups to share their experiences, perspectives and views.

It continued that from the beginning of this month, people are now able to contribute in new ways, through written submissions or voice recordings and video recordings.

One-to-one conversations can also be conducted by trained facilitators and supported by specialist emotional support services.

What has Birmingham City Council’s current leadership said?

Earlier this month, Birmingham Council’s leader Cllr Roger Harmer said every perpetrator must face justice – regardless of “who they are or where they come from”.

“Every child in Birmingham deserves to be safe,” he said. “Every victim and survivor deserves to be heard.

“For too many years, children were completely let down by failures in safeguarding, with victims and survivors living with the consequences. While we cannot change what happened, we can decide what happens next.”

“Birmingham will face this issue openly, honestly and without fear or favour,” the Lib Dem Cllr continued. “We will follow the evidence.

“We will not ignore difficult questions, including questions about ethnicity.

“But we will never allow child sexual exploitation to be used to divide communities or distract from the central truth: abuse is the responsibility of the abuser, and every child must be protected.”

He added the council was not waiting to be told to act and was committed to independently testing Birmingham’s current safeguarding arrangements and building “better, dedicated” support, along with other measures.

Cllr Harmer’s statement was supported by other members of the minority coalition running the council (the Green Party, Better Birmingham Independents and Birmingham Independents Group), as well as the leaders of the local Reform, Conservative, Labour and Birmingham Independent Workers groups.

Green Cllr Kamel Hawwash, the cabinet member for children and young people, said the council would “leave no stone unturned in protecting children, supporting survivors and ensuring the city continues to learn and improve”.

What have opposition councillors said?

Cllr Jex Parkin, leader of Reform UK Birmingham, said he was pleased that Birmingham was added to the inquiry, saying the city “deserves the truth”.

“These issues stretch back decades,” he said.

“The inquiry now has the opportunity to examine what happened, how the institutions responsible for protecting children responded and whether opportunities to protect vulnerable children were missed.

“The important thing now is that the council and every relevant organisation cooperate fully, that no difficult questions are avoided and that victims and survivors remain at the heart of this work.

“Birmingham will now be part of a statutory inquiry with the power to get to the evidence. We welcome that scrutiny and want the inquiry to follow that evidence wherever it leads.”

Cllr Robert Alden, leader of the Conservative group on the council, also welcomed the news and said: “Above all, this must be about getting truth and justice for the children who were failed and ensuring that those failures can never be repeated.

“For too long there have been unanswered questions about what happened in Birmingham.

“Now that Birmingham is to be included, party politics must take second place to getting to the truth.”

Councillor Matt Bennett (Con, Edgbaston) added: “The inquiry must be able to follow the evidence wherever it leads, including difficult questions about institutional failures and the ethnicity, religion and cultural background of perpetrators where those factors are relevant.

“We encourage anyone with any information to submit evidence to the inquiry”.

By Alexander Brock | Local Democracy Reporting Service