Grooming Gangs: Independent Inquiry

Baroness Cash Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

The inquiry will have a laser focus on grooming gangs, including the role that ethnicity, religion and culture played in these terrible crimes. Our message is clear: we will do whatever it takes to secure justice for those who were so badly let down—pursuing the evidence wherever it may lead, exposing failings and taking every necessary step to protect the most vulnerable in our society. For too long, questions about what was and will for ever be one of the darkest moments in this country’s history have gone unanswered. That must change, which is why the Government have established a full independent inquiry to shine a light on past horrors. That is happening alongside our wider work to tackle exploitation and abuse, backed by a record £100 million in Home Office funding this year, in an unrelenting effort to keep our children safe from harm”.

[Baroness Cash (Con)]

My Lords, may I begin first by paying testament to the tireless advocacy of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, on behalf of the victims of grooming gangs, and the tremendous courage and persistence that she displays in public service? She has warned again this week that fear of accusations of racism played a significant part in preventing professionals from protecting these girls—these children—from abuse and rape. One year on, her criticism is not about announcements or process or lists of things to do; it is that the Government have failed to grasp the cultural problems underlying all this. Will the Government finally heed the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, and commit to legislate to make ethnicity data collection mandatory, first for police forces and secondly for children’s social care services dealing with child sexual exploitation? If not, why not?

[Baroness Doocey (LD)]

My Lords—