Grooming gang inquiry ‘may not take place till next year’ amid infighting over Jess Phillips’ role
The long-awaited investigation into grooming rings may not take place until next year.
There are government resources said Times He said it could take months to find a new chair after two candidates to oversee the investigation – former police officers Jim Gamble and Annie Hudson – withdrew this week.
The source said the government was taking urgent steps to find new candidates after the “leading” option Mr Gamble withdrew, but ministers would spend “time, possibly months” to appoint the right chairman.
The investigation was thrown into disarray after the loss of two candidates to head the investigation and the departure of five women from the victims’ contact panel.
Four of the women who resigned said they would be ready to return if Conservation Minister Jess Phillips resigned, while the five women still on the advisory panel said they would only stay if she remained in office.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer and home secretary Shabana Mahmood, the five supporting Ms Phillips said her retention of her role was one of the conditions for their continued involvement.
They wrote that the minister “remained neutral” and “for consistency, we ask that he remain in office throughout the process.”
This came after four of those who had left the panel – Ellie-Ann Reynolds, Fiona Goddard, Elizabeth Harper and a woman signed only “Jessica” – sent a letter with conditions that had to be met for them to return.
These include Ms Phillips’ demands that the investigation be “laser focused” on grooming the gangs and that its head be a former or sitting judge.
On Wednesday, Mr Gamble recused himself from presiding over the investigation, citing “political opportunism” and “point-taking”, and acknowledged that his police background meant some survivors “couldn’t trust me”.
Ms Hudson, who served as Lambeth’s director of children’s services, reportedly stood down on Tuesday.
Speaking about the search for a new chair, the source added: Times: “With the loss of the leading candidate to head the grooming gangs investigation, the government is taking urgent steps to ensure a new candidate is found.”
Ministers plan to “re-engage” with victims, “listen to their concerns and seek their opinion on the type of person they would like to lead the investigation”. It is understood Sir Keir himself reached out to contact survivors in the midst of the crisis.
Baroness Louise Casey, who has been appointed to support the investigative work, will work closely with the Government to find new ground for the presidential candidates.
On Tuesday, Ms Phillips told MPs that “allegations of deliberate delay, indifference or expansion and dilution of the scope of the investigation are false”.
A Downing Street spokesman rejected claims that Ms Phillips had been removed from the case, telling reporters: “Minister Phillips has spent his career fighting for victims and survivors and trying to protect them from abuse.
“And since taking office as minister for protection, he has been working incredibly closely with victims and survivors and is determined to deliver justice for them.
In a report by police watchdog Her Majesty’s Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services Inspectorate, turmoil over the investigation continues; It found encouraging progress had been made but “significant challenges” remained in how police tackle child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs.
Problems with data accuracy and coordination at national level risk undermining the police response in efforts to tackle group-based child sexual abuse, the watchdog said in a new progress report.
Inspectors said more than half of police forces still did not include data from partners such as charities or social services in their assessments.
Among six new recommendations, the inspectorate called for universal use of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation’s definition of “organised network” and for improvements in data collection.
