Prime Minister and Home Secretary visit Rochdale to launch new grooming gang taskforce

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary met with survivors of sexual exploitation for the launch of a new taskforce dedicated to stamping out grooming gangs who target children and young women.

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman met with survivors, local police partners and members of the new taskforce in Castleton on Monday (3 April).

Specialist officers will be parachuted in to assist police forces with live child sexual exploitation and grooming investigations to bring more of these types of criminals to justice.

Led by the police and supported by the National Crime Agency, the taskforce will be made up of officers with extensive experience of undertaking grooming gang investigations. They will provide crucial support to forces across the country to root out grooming gangs and put more perpetrators behind bars.

Data analysts will work alongside the taskforce using cutting edge data and intelligence to identify the types of criminals who carry out these offences, helping police forces across the country catch offenders who might otherwise be missed. This will also include police recorded ethnicity data to make sure suspects cannot evade justice because of cultural sensitivities.

This will include better data on the make-up of grooming gangs, including ethnicity, to make sure suspects cannot hide behind cultural sensitivities as a way to evade justice.

Speaking ahead of meeting survivors, Mr Sunak said: “The safety of women and girls is paramount. For too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women. We will stop at nothing to stamp out these dangerous gangs.”

Alongside the new taskforce, the Prime Minister has pledged to make sure grooming gang members and their ring leaders receive the toughest possible sentences.

Legislation will be introduced to make being the leader of, or involved in, a grooming gang a statutory aggravating factor during sentencing.

Ms Braverman said: “Child sexual abuse is one of the most horrific crimes facing our society, it devastates victims, families and whole communities.

“The protection of children is a collective effort. Every adult must be supported to call out child sexual abuse without fear.

“And the despicable abusers must be brought to justice. They should not be able to hide. And they must face the full force of the law for their crimes.

“That’s why I’m introducing a mandatory reporting duty and launching a call for evidence. We must address the failures identified by the Inquiry and take on board the views of the thousands of victims and survivors who contributed to its findings.

“I would encourage everyone to engage with the process once it starts – it is important to have a national conversation about this to shine a light on this terrible – but too often hidden – crime.”

Mandatory Reporting was one the key recommendations in the important Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which gave a voice to thousands of courageous survivors.
 

Read more: Final report published of child sexual abuse inquiryPublished: 29 November 2022

Professor Alexis Jay OBE, Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, added: “The Prime Minister’s statement today places a renewed focus on tackling the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by organised networks.

“I welcome these announcements, some of which reflect the recommendations of the Inquiry’s own report on child sexual exploitation in 2022.

“The commitment to mandatory reporting is very encouraging, and I look forward to working with the government to ensure that the full package of the Inquiry’s recommendations in its final report is taken forward to better protect children from sexual abuse in the future.”

The taskforce has been welcomed by Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson, whilst Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd said: “The government have been told to set up a task force on grooming gangs and they've been told for years to take this seriously. Let’s see some action, not just more words.”

He added: “The work done by children's services in Rochdale, the local police and other agencies to protect young girls and boys from grooming deserves the congratulations of government ministers.  

“What we've not seen is the determined effort by government to play its part. We need to see real action."

Mr Clarkson said: “We have all heard the heartbreaking stories of young women in our community, put through unimaginable torment and then badly let down by the system which was supposed to protect them.

“I'm pleased that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary are taking tough action to deal with the perpetrators of this hateful behaviour and the people who turn a blind eye to it out of a mixture of indifference and political correctness.

“No one is above the law and I'm glad that we have a government which takes that seriously.”

Steve Rumbelow, chief executive of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We are pleased that the Home Secretary and Prime Minister have been to Rochdale to see first-hand how the council and police have been working, over several years, to deal with current and historic child sexual abuse in all its forms. That work has brought many offenders to justice and helped survivors rebuild their lives.

“It was not political correctness or a lack of reporting that prevented cases in Rochdale being dealt with initially; it was a failure to bring charges against offenders until years after initial reports were made and a failure by several different agencies to recognise the horrendous abuse that was taking place.

“We are grateful for any opportunity to demonstrate a system that works and the Home Secretary was very complimentary about what she saw. She met a multidisciplinary team of social workers and police officers dedicated to protecting children and putting perpetrators behind bars. It was therefore immensely disappointing that she left the meeting and immediately talked of an ongoing scandal. That may be the case in some places but that is not the case in Rochdale now.”