Bradford asks for inclusion in grooming inquiry

1 hour ago

Julia BrysonYorkshire

News image — Stephen Place has written to Baroness Longfield, who is the inquiry chair

Reform UK Stephen Place, who has short, shaved hair and a grey beard. He is wearing black-rimmed glasses. — Stephen Place has written to Baroness Longfield, who is the inquiry chair

Bradford should be one of the five focus areas of a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, according to the city's new council leader.

Reform UK councillor Stephen Place, who was elected last month, has written to inquiry chair Baroness Longfield with his request for Bradford and the surrounding area - including Keighley - to be included.

The prime minister announced the statutory inquiry into grooming gangs in June, and a decision on its areas of focus is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

In a statement, the council said child sexual exploitation had been "a big concern in the Bradford district for many years, and there have been many calls for a formal inquiry".

It added: "It is important that survivors are able to have their voices heard.

"This issue must be looked at carefully and sensitively, so there is a clear understanding of what has happened over many years."

The council said Place wrote to the inquiry on 21 May.

Getty Images A young woman with her back turned to the camera. She is standing next to an open door and is wearing a black coat. — The prime minister announced a national grooming gangs inquiry in June

The news was welcomed by Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore, who has previously suggested the scale of Bradford's problem with child sexual exploitation would "dwarf" other areas.

He said he was "very pleased" that the council leader was joining his "longstanding calls for the Bradford district to be included".

Moore said: "Child sexual exploitation and gang-related grooming has haunted Keighley and the wider Bradford district for decades."

He added: "I only hope that Baroness Longfield and the home secretary hear our joint calls and commence an inquiry across Keighley and the Bradford district without delay."

Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore, dressed in a grey suit and navy tie. He is in the process of talking and a closed wooden door is behind him. — Keighley MP Robbie Moore has called for a local inquiry into child sexual exploitation

In October, West Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner Alison Lowe said she wanted to "validate survivors across the whole of West Yorkshire".

Whereas Moore said the Bradford district had been the "epicentre" of gang-related sexual abuse, Lowe - who is also the deputy mayor for West Yorkshire - said current data suggested that Kirklees, Calderdale and the Bradford district were the three areas of West Yorkshire with the most convicted perpetrators.

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