GROOMING GANGS INQUIRY LAUNCHES PROBES IN WALES AND BIRMINGHAM

The Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs has confirmed it has launched investigations into child sexual abuse in Wales and in Birmingham. The inquiry said the two probes will examine the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by grooming gangs. It said they will also examine how organisations responsible for protecting children responded in each area. Reports describe the confirmation as a widening of the inquiry's overall scope. The inquiry indicated it would release further details as the story develops.

The two investigations sit within the wider Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, which reports put at a cost of £65 million overall. Wales and Birmingham join the list of areas the inquiry is investigating. In both cases, the inquiry said its focus covers the actions of grooming gangs and the response of child protection organisations. The inquiry has not broken down costs between individual investigations, including those covering Wales and Birmingham. The announcement did not set out a timetable for either investigation to report its findings.

The confirmation of the two new investigations marks the latest step in the inquiry's statutory examination of grooming gang cases and the institutional response to them. The inquiry is expected to publish further information on the Wales and Birmingham investigations as the story develops. No date has emerged for when either probe will conclude or report. The inquiry's remit keeps widening as it brings additional areas within its scope, according to reports.