People across Rochdale are being encouraged to take part in a national consultation that will help define the scope of a new Independent Statutory Inquiry into grooming gangs.
The inquiry has been established by the Government following recommendation two of Baroness Louise Casey’s National Audit on Group based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025. It will examine systemic failures linked to group based child sexual exploitation and abuse and consider how institutions can be held to account.
The statutory inquiry will be chaired by Baroness Anne Longfield, alongside panel members Zoe Billingham and Eleanor Kelly. It is expected to run for up to three years. Its stated purpose is not to prosecute individuals or determine civil or criminal liability, but to investigate how group based child sexual exploitation and abuse occurred and what lessons must be learned.
The consultation focuses on the draft Terms of Reference, which will define what the inquiry can and cannot examine under the Inquiries Act 2005. The public consultation closes at 23.59 on 6 March.
Rochdale MP Paul Waugh has urged residents, survivors and community members to take part. He said:
“In Rochdale we know better than anywhere the need to get justice for victims of child sex abuse, so I strongly welcome the Independent Statutory Inquiry into Grooming Gangs opening its first public consultation on its draft Terms of Reference.
This inquiry has been set up to get to the truth about the systemic failures that allowed child sexual exploitation to happen and to ensure institutions are properly held to account.
It is absolutely vital that victims and survivors, local communities, and anyone with relevant experience have their voices heard as the scope of the inquiry is shaped.
I strongly encourage anyone with views or experiences they wish to share to take part in the consultation process.
As I have since I was first elected, I will keep raising this issue and pushing to make sure Rochdale’s experiences and lessons are fully heard and acted upon.”
The inquiry will focus specifically on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse carried out by networks of two or more people linked formally or informally. This can include introducing a child to others for exploitation, trafficking, receiving payment for sexual activity involving a child, or allowing premises to be used for abuse.
Under section 5(5) of the Inquiries Act 2005, a statutory inquiry may only act within its agreed Terms of Reference. Residents who wish to respond can do so through the official consultation portal before the deadline.
Fill in the consultation survey here; https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/IndependentInquiryintoGroomingGangs-ToRConsultation/
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