header-logo header-logo

Grooming gangs inquiry announced

18 June 2025
Issue: 8121 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Abuse , Child law
printer mail-detail
A statutory inquiry into grooming gangs, strengthened rape laws, and mandatory reporting will be introduced, the home secretary Yvette Cooper has said

Speaking in the House of Commons this week, Cooper pledged to ‘take action… immediately’ on all 12 recommendations in Baroness Louise Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (grooming gangs).

The Home Office commissioned the audit to assess the nature, scale and characteristics of gang-based exploitation, including ethnicity of offenders and cultural and social drivers.

The law will be changed so adults who rape children under 16 can no longer plead consent as part of their defence, Cooper said. Abuse victims convicted of ‘child prostitution offences’ while their rapists escaped prosecution will have their convictions disregarded and criminal records expunged.

Cooper said the government will introduce mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse or exploitation, and aggravated offences of grooming, in the Crime and Policing Bill. Both were among 20 recommendations of Professor Alexis Jay’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which reported in 2022.

Amy Clowrey, director and solicitor at Switalskis, who specialises in child sexual abuse compensation, said: ‘We cannot continue producing report after report with little follow-through.’

‘Survivors deserve meaningful change, not just headlines. It is also important that wraparound support is set up for survivors of abuse as both the local and national inquiries into historical abuse will be incredibly traumatising for many, as it is a topic which is closely followed by the national media.

‘I urge swift implementation of all recommendations to ensure better support for survivors and improved protection for children. Without urgent action, the cycle of harm and institutional failure will continue unchecked.’

Cooper said the police have identified for formal review more than 800 closed cases involving grooming and child sexual exploitation allegations, expected to rise to 1,000 in coming weeks.

Issue: 8121 / Categories: Legal News , Criminal , Abuse , Child law
printer mail-details

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll