Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Bool Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jo Stevens]

At every session of Wales questions, the hon. Gentleman talks about how he does not want infrastructure to be built in Wales. His party was one of the architects of austerity and the crushing poverty faced by so many people across the United Kingdom. This Labour Government have turned the page on that austerity legacy, bringing down energy bills, increasing the minimum and living wages for about 160,000 Welsh workers, and scrapping the two-child cap.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

3. What steps she is taking with the Home Secretary to help tackle grooming gangs in Wales.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Anna McMorrin)]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this important matter. The Home Office is working closely with the Welsh Government to share information and co-ordinate work to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation, including that perpetrated by grooming gangs. This includes taking forward the recommendations of Baroness Casey’s audit, and I strongly welcome the continued support of the Welsh Government as we do so.

[Sarah Bool]

Welsh Labour voted against a grooming gangs inquiry in the Senedd. Now Scottish MPs are bemoaning the lack of action from the Scottish National party and the Scottish Government. Given that Welsh Labour is also dragging its heels over this inquiry, will the Secretary of State step up and ensure that it holds a Wales-wide inquiry into this horrific scandal?

[Anna McMorrin]

I am disappointed in the hon. Member. She must have forgotten that the last inquiry was not implemented in any way, shape or form. We have accepted Baroness Casey’s recommendations in full, and we are working together—the Welsh Government and the Home Office, alongside Baroness Casey—to appoint a chair, as a matter of urgency. Victims’ voices should be at the heart of this inquiry, and it is imperative that any chair appointed earns the trust of the victims, who have been let down far too often. For those victims, we must get this right; we can absolutely do no less.