On 03 January 2025 Elon Musk criticised the UK government’s handling of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and grooming gangs on his social media platform, X. He specifically targeted Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, accusing them of neglecting the issue. This subsequently caused a number of high profile personalities to comment on the topic and led to a number of calls for different action to be taken by the government. Some people were calling for a full-scale national inquiry into child sexual exploitation and grooming, whilst others were asking for the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (‘IICSA’) to be implemented.

By way of background, the IICSA ran over seven years and its final recommendations for change were published in October 2022. I recently wrote a blog outlining those recommendations which can be found here . That inquiry looked at different types of abuse, one of the strands that the inquiry examined in 2018 was institutional responses to CSE. The IICSA CSE report was also published in February 2022 and also made six recommendations. Again, those recommendations are outlined in my earlier blog.

For perspective, data shows that grooming gang abuse is a tiny fraction of the child sexual abuse taking place in the country.

Following heated public debate the government announced on 6 January that three of the IICSA recommendations would be actioned:

• Mandatory Reporting - professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they fail to report claims of child sexual abuse under a law to be introduced later this year,
• Grooming will be made an aggravating factor in child sexual offences, and
• A core dataset will be established which accurately collects data from agencies, relating to child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation.

Whilst these reforms were welcomed, the government faced substantial backlash from survivors and experts stating that this did not go far enough.

Then on 16 January the government announced support for local inquiries into child sexual exploitation gangs. It was confirmed that:

• £5 million would be allocated for up to five local inquiries, including one in Oldham,
• There would be a ‘rapid audit’ - a national three-month audit to examine "cultural and societal drivers" of child sexual exploitation.
• All of the IICSA recommendations from both its final report and the CSE report would be implemented, and
• More victims will be able to request their cases are re-examined.

So will there be an inquiry or not?

At present, inquiries in only five local inquiries will take place, one of which will be in Oldham. These inquiries are pilots and many more councils are likely to have inquiries in the future.

There are no plans for the government to hold a fresh national public inquiry, though that could change given the continuing pressure and could happen after the local inquiries have concluded (depending upon the outcome of those inquiries).

Our views

At Switalskis we are incredibly pleased to see child protection being at the top of the agenda. We have been campaigning for over two years for the IICSA recommendations to be implemented. The action being taken is pleasing and we hope that it will make a real difference to children who need protection now but also survivors of historical abuse.

We are pleased to see the governments support and funding for local inquiries, especially in Oldham in which we have a number of clients and there were significant failings. We are concerned that the £5 million pounds allocated may not be enough (when considering that the 2022 inquiry into CSE in Telford cost £8 million pounds and the national IICSA cost £186.6 million pounds). We hope that the government will keep this under review and offer whatever resources are needed to ensure these local inquiries are thorough and that survivors truly get the opportunity, not just to speak, but to be heard.  

We would like the government to announce that a local inquiry will take place in Bradford, again we represent a number of survivors of CSE in Bradford and understand there to have been significant failings by the authorities in this city.

In addition, we would also like to see the IICSA recommendations implemented swiftly, there to be no further lengthy delays and for wrap-around support to be offered to survivors of abuse after criminal investigations have concluded (either due to a decision of no further action or a successful conviction) as a matter of urgency. Many of our clients tell us that they feel abandoned after investigations conclude and that their mental health significantly declines both during and after any police investigation, regardless of the outcome.

Finally, we would like to see child protection constantly at the top of any governments agenda so that we are never in this position again. We hope that the creation of a Child Protection Authority (as recommended by the IICSA) will ensure that we are not.

Get in touch with us in confidence

We’re committed to providing expert, caring legal advice for child abuse claims, including the most serious historical abuse compensation and child sexual abuse cases. If you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here for a no obligation chat.

Feel free to get in touch with us by calling 0800 138 0458 or by contacting us through the website.