BASW statement on National Inquiry into grooming gangs

The Home Secretary has announced a national inquiry for England and Wales.

In January 2025, the UK Home Secretary commissioned Baroness Casey to conduct a national audit of gang-based exploitation in England and Wales. This week, Baroness Casey has published her report setting out 12 recommendations for change, which the UK Government has committed to undertaking. We commend the bravery of the survivors of horrific group-based child sexual exploitation, and their families for sharing their personal experiences and participating in the audit.

One of these recommendations is for a time-limited national inquiry into grooming gangs, carried out by a national commission with statutory inquiry powers. The Home Secretary confirmed in the House of Commons this week that the government will set up a national enquiry in England and Wales to this effect. We now await further details of how this will operate when the government sets them out in due course.

The findings of Baroness Casey’s report are deeply distressing and disturbing. At the centre of these horrific grooming cases are children who have suffered the most appalling and abhorrent abuse, in many cases over a number of years and decades. The long-term trauma, pain and exploitation that they have experienced is unthinkable. Their voices must be at the heart of this national inquiry.

Safeguarding is everyone’s agenda, ultimately, all professions involved in child safeguarding have a duty to ensure that all children are protected from harm. As well as securing the truth and justice for victims and holding the perpetrators accountable for these vile crimes, the result of this inquiry must be that no child is ever at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation by grooming gangs again. It is incumbent upon all professions to work together to make sure of this outcome.

BASW welcomes the steps being taken to implement this national inquiry and is committed to representing the voice of the social work profession throughout its investigation. We also welcome the thoroughness of Baroness Casey’s report and the set of clear recommendations that she has outlined, as well as the government’s willingness to deliver them swiftly and fully. 

We agree with the Home Secretary that, collectively, we cannot shy away from these findings. It is imperative that they now translate into action to ensure that these despicable crimes are never repeated.