Grooming gangs inquiry will 'shine a light' on Birmingham

The chief executive of Birmingham Children's Trust has said a national inquiry into grooming gangs will "shine a light on an issue that doesn't always get the attention it should".

James Thomas said the organisation had been working with the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs even before the body announced this week that it would expand its reach to include Birmingham and Wales.

He said the trust had known the inquiry was looking at cases in the city, but had not been given advance notice of the announcement.

He said grooming gangs were a problem in Birmingham "as they are in much of the country".

The inquiry said it would "examine the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by grooming gangs and the response of organisations responsible for protecting children".

Thomas said the inquiry was "an opportunity to really raise awareness of the issue".

The trust's report to the council this week revealed up to 98 child sexual exploitation (CSE) cases were being investigated in Birmingham, six of which were believed to have involved groups.

Thomas said it was the trust's responsibility to protect children linked to those investigations while police focused on prosecuting perpetrators and disrupting their activities.

It emerged at a city council meeting on Wednesday that West Midlands Police had only started routinely recording the ethnicity of CSE offenders within the past 12 months.

Thomas said the quality of data recording had been "a real weakness" both locally and nationally.

"I'm pleased that they're now committed to put that right and ensure that the data is robust going forward," he added.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch shared a similar view in a BBC interview on Thursday.

Thomas said social workers played an important role in helping children understand risks, including perpetrators grooming them into believing them they were in a relationship rather than being exploited.

He said children had to be moved away from communities when it was necessary to protect them.

The trust's report said children in care could be particularly vulnerable to exploitation.

"There's a small cohort of about 2% of the children in care that we look after where there are risks of child sexual exploitation," Thomas said, adding that some had entered care because of those risks, while others had become vulnerable to exploitation after experiencing abuse or neglect.

He welcomed Birmingham City Council's commitments to "ensure that the current safeguarding system is as strong as it can be" and to offer more support to victims of historical offences.

The national inquiry is expected to run for three years.

A recent report drawn up by City of Wolverhampton Council found the number of children identified as being at risk of, or experiencing, exploitation had risen in the city.

But it also found types of abuse changed over the last five years, with a fall in the number of girls being sexually exploited and a rise in the number of boys being coerced into criminal activity.

Children from minority ethnic backgrounds were being disproportionately exploited, the report said.

The West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion, told BBC Politics Midlands that it was important any inquiry led to change.

The Conservative politician said: "We can't just have another inquiry that makes us feel better with warm words afterwards."

He also said his force would look to learn any lessons from the inquiries elsewhere.

Rachel Taylor, the Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, said: "We need to understand the full extent of the problem", and said her government wanted to "see no stone unturned".

Martin Murray, the Reform UK leader of Staffordshire County Council, asked: "Why on earth have we not listened to the recommendations already done?"

You can find out more about the inquiry and what it means for Birmingham on Politics Midlands from 10:00 BST on 4 October on BBC One

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