Baroness to chair national inquiry into grooming gangs

FOLLOWING months of delays and disagreements, the national inquiry into grooming gangs is moving forward.

- By CHARLOTTE HALL

The Home Secretary yesterday announced former children’s commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield as the chair of the inquiry and clarified some of the terms of reference of the investigation.

But what does it mean for Oldham?

The borough has long been a part of the debate around how to handle historic sexual exploitation. The government initially rejected a request from the council to launch a full statutory inquiry, instead promising to help fund a new local inquiry earlier this year.

Following a government U-turn in June, the town hall said it was left ‘in the dark’ about where it stood within the newly announced national inquiry, and what to do with the local inquiry it had already started commissioning for.

The M.E.N. understands the town will be one the first areas to be investigated as part of the national inquiry into grooming gangs. The local inquiry will be dropped, but Oldham will be ‘prioritised’ in the larger report, with Baroness Longfield expected to visit the borough early in the New Year to speak to survivors and local partners.