A group of survivors of child sexual exploitation, a leading child abuse lawyer and Keighley and Ilkley’s Member of Parliament have joined forces to call on Home Secretary to launch a full-scale inquiry in grooming gangs across the Bradford District.
In a joint letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the group, including five local survivors of child sexual exploitation, warn that the grooming gangs scandal in Bradford is likely to be ‘one of the most significant crises of its kind’ in the UK, calling on the government to act.
Keighley and Ilkley’s Member of Parliament Robbie Moore and solicitor David Greenwood presented the letter to the Home Office this week.
The growing calls for an inquiry in Bradford Council come after the Home Secretary announced that up to four "pilot" areas would be selected for specific inquiries later this year.
David Greenwood, a leading child abuse solicitor and Director of Switalskis Child Abuse team of who worked with hundreds of victims of the Rotherham abuse scandal, says that the reality in Bradford risks ‘eclipsing the horrors uncovered in Rotherham’.
‘The scale of this issue in Bradford could be greater than in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oldham, or Telford. Those towns have had their moment of reckoning – Bradford has not’, the letter states.
Despite growing calls for an inquiry, the Bradford Safeguarding Partnership - made up of Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Police and Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership – rejected the spectre of an inquiry last month.
They pointed to a review in 2021 which focused on five children in Bradford and found multi-agency failings by Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Police and safeguarding authorities.
But survivor Fiona Goddard, who has waived her legal right to life-long anonymity and who's experiences were documented in the same 2021 review, has joined this week's calls for action.
'The number and nature of CSE cases with connections to Bradford has become so concerning that an independent inquiry into any failings of the council is essential if we are to have trust in the council but importantly understand the CSE landscape in Bradford.'
The group state that 'it has become clear that Bradford Council is deliberately seeking to avoid the commissioning of an in-depth inquiry for fear of unearthing a very significant problem'.
The group urged the Home Secretary ‘to ensure that our district is included in the inquiry process and that such an inquiry has proper powers, so that we can finally deliver the transparency and justice that victims and survivors in our district have long deserved.’
David Greenwood, leading Child Abuse Solicitor at Switalskis, said:
“The grooming gang scandal in Bradford is likely to be one of the most significant crises of its kind in the UK, potentially eclipsing the horrors uncovered in Rotherham. As someone who has worked with hundreds of survivors across South and West Yorkshire, it is clear to me that Bradford faces a reckoning.
Bradford Council must act with urgency to commission a thorough, independent review into the widespread child sexual exploitation (CSE) that has devastated lives and communities. Without a comprehensive investigation, justice will remain out of reach for survivors, and those responsible will evade accountability.”
Fiona Goddard said:
“The number and nature of CSE cases with connections to Bradford has become so concerning that an independent inquiry into any failings of the council is essential if we are to have trust in the council but importantly understand the CSE landscape in Bradford.”
Robbie Moore, Keighley and Ilkley’s MP, said:
“Since becoming the Member of Parliament for Keighley and Ilkley five years ago, I have personally met with numerous victims of child sexual exploitation across our area and heard some of the most horrific and gut-wrenching accounts. For too long, survivors in Bradford have been denied justice. It is unacceptable that councils are left to investigate themselves, and we have seen time and time again that they fail to do so properly.
The Home Secretary must include Bradford in this review – but more importantly, this review must have real teeth. That means statutory powers to compel witnesses, expose safeguarding failures, and ensure those responsible are held to account.”
