Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what areas will local grooming gang inquiries be conducted in.

Our focus is to deliver meaningful change for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation, including by grooming gangs. That means protecting more children, getting justice for victims and pursuing and punishing the perpetrators of these abominable crimes.

On 8 April I made a statement to Parliament setting out a detailed update on Government action to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as a progress update on the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. This included an update on our work to develop a new best practice framework, backed by additional funding, to support local authorities that want to undertake local inquiries or other related activities, including the independent local inquiry commissioned by Oldham Council, for which we have already announced our support.

To develop this framework, we have engaged with a range of experts, victims and survivors, drawing on the lessons from local independent inquiries like Telford, Rotherham and Greater Manchester. We are now in the process of testing the framework with stakeholders, including local areas, to ensure it will effectively facilitate work improve local responses to grooming gangs offending. We will publish the details of the framework and the national fund next month.

The Home Secretary also wrote to all local authorities in the country last month to update them on the actions we have taken in this area, and ask them to review their own local progress in tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation, and investigating historic cases of those crimes.