09 December 2025 , 16:38
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Former children’s commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield has been appointed to chair the long-delayed national inquiry into grooming gangs, which will run for three years with a budget of £65 million.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed the appointment and outlined the inquiry’s terms in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Baroness Longfield said the investigation must uncover the truth and deliver justice: “The inquiry owes it to the victims, survivors and the wider public to identify the truth, address past failings and ensure that children and young people today are protected in a way that others were not. The inquiry will follow the evidence and will not shy away from difficult or uncomfortable truths wherever we find them.”
The Government has faced increasing pressure to move forward with the process, first announced by the Prime Minister in June. Progress stalled after the final two shortlisted chairs withdrew in October, prompting fears of long delays. Five members of the victim liaison panel also resigned over concerns the inquiry’s scope could be expanded.
The inquiry stems from a recommendation by Baroness Louise Casey following her rapid audit into the scale of grooming gangs in the UK.
Longfield, who served as children’s commissioner from 2015 to 2021, founded the Centre for Young Lives think tank last year. She was made a Labour peer earlier this year for her work on children’s rights, but will step down from the party while leading the inquiry, Mahmood said.
Politics Editor