Grooming gangs inquiry to be launched in Scotland, government announces

There will be a grooming gangs inquiry in Scotland, the Scottish Government has announced.

The announcement comes after months of pressure to establish such a probe by opposition parties and victims of child sexual abuse.

Ministers have previously resisted calls out of concern that this was not the best use of resources.

But education secretary Jenny Gilruth told the chamber today that an inquiry was an “essential” step.

The inquiry will specifically look at “Scotland’s response to group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation”, Gilruth added.

Professor Alexis Jay – who was previously tasked with reviewing evidence of the extent of the problem – will lead the inquiry. Jay previously chaired the inquiry into child sexual abuse inquiry in England and Wales between 2016 and 2022.

Gilruth said the announcement proved the government would “leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice”.

She added: “All too often, when victims spoke up, institutions knew. And institutions with the powers to act – and importantly, the powers to help – all too often did not act to prevent abuse from occurring.

“The inquiry will, therefore, have the fullest investigatory powers required. With Professor Alexis Jay as chair, I hope this provides survivors and the public with confidence in the process and the necessary, in my view, independence of this work.”

Alongside the inquiry, a Truth Project will be established in Scotland to gather the views of survivors.

Meanwhile, the national review of evidence (no longer chaired by Jay) and Police Scotland’s review of cases will remain ongoing.

The inquiry will be separate from the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which has a broader remit.

Professor Jay said: “The sexual and criminal exploitation of children entails abuse of the most horrific kind, usually at the hands of many perpetrators. The public inquiry will get to the truth of exploitation in Scotland in the past and the present, in order to prevent it in the future.

“It will examine the extent to which public authorities and other organisations effectively identify the risk of child exploitation and take action to protect children. I will engage with victims and survivors early, as the terms of reference are formed.”

Conservative children’s spokesperson Roz McCall welcomed the inquiry, highlighting that her party had tried to get one established in September.

She said: “The independence of the inquiry is essential, the terms of reference must be defined without further delay, and all institutions must be held accountable.”

Labour justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said her party “fully supported” the inquiry, but asked whether “substantial information” had emerged in recent months which had changed the government’s mind.

The UK Government had already established an inquiry into grooming gangs in England and Wales, led by Baroness Anne Longfield, a former children’s commissioner.

That inquiry has been backed by £65m and will not take longer than three years to complete.

But its establishment has not been without controversy after several victims expressed concern about the way it was being handled and resigned from the abuse survivors panel.