Lucy Duckworth, a member of Act on IICSA, welcomed Streeting’s comments saying: “We are really hopeful, especially with the recent news coverage, that the government is soon going to provide a really clear timeline on when they’re going to do this.”
She said one problem is that a lot of child protection issues fall across several government departments – making communication tricky – and she wants to see a child protection authority bridge that gap.
“I don’t think that we can afford to delay any longer and another inquiry will have that delay,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Neil Basu – former head of counter-terrorism policing – welcomed the news that the government was committed to implementing the Jay report.
“We’ve had 10 years of public inquiries, £2m spent, and a brilliant report done by [Prof] Jay which should be implemented,” he said.
“That is a much more positive way of dealing with this than effectively re-litigating an inquiry because it’s politically useful.”
Prof Jay’s comments came after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for a national public inquiry into the UK’s “rape gangs scandal” on Thursday, which Reform leader Nigel Farage also supports.
The issue of grooming gangs was put back in the spotlight after Home Office minister Jess Phillips rejected Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation in the town, in favour of a locally-led investigation.
That decision was criticised by senior Tory and Reform figures, while billionaire Elon Musk also fuelled online anger over the move in a series of posts on social media.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said he would support a national inquiry into grooming gangs, but stressed that a review into Greater Manchester Police which he launched in 2017 was ongoing.
“Nobody has turned away, we have faced up directly to the failings,” Burnham said, adding that the review has led to arrests, charges and convictions.
“For us, we must complete the greater Manchester review, the police investigations are ongoing, I wouldn’t want anything to cut across those police investigations. But I wouldn’t stand against a further national review if that was deemed necessary.”
