In a statement in the House of Commons, Cooper said that despite Prof Jay’s report and other inquiries, “shamefully little progress had been made”.
“That has got to change,” she said and added that by Easter, the government would set out a “clear timetable” for implementing the Jay report’s recommendations.
Cooper argued that “effective local inquiries can delve into far more local detail and deliver more locally relevant answers, and change, than a lengthy nationwide inquiry can provide”
She said Tom Crowther, who led an inquiry in Telford, would help the government develop a new framework for “victim-centred locally-led inquiries where they are needed”.
She said this would begin by working with Oldham Council and up to four other pilot areas, with £5m being put up to “get work off the ground”.
Champion pressed the home secretary on whether the inquires would be able to summon witnesses to give evidence.
“What we need to do is make sure there have been no cover-ups, and it’s only if it’s on a statutory footing that we can do that,” she said.
Cooper replied that different approaches could be taken and the government would work with local mayors and local councils to “make sure that we can strengthen the accountability arrangements”.
She said this included introducing a “duty of candour” which requires public servants to tell the truth.
The separate audit looking at the ethnicity of grooming gangs and their victims will be led by Baroness Louise Casey, who previously led the 2015 review of Rotherham Council.
Casey has already been appointed to lead a commission into social care, but Downing Street insisted the two pieces of work would not clash, saying her work on grooming gangs would be finished before before the start of April.
In her statement, Cooper also announced she would be asking chief constables in England and Wales to re-examine historic gang exploitation cases and re-open investigations “were appropriate”. This would be backed by £2m of additional funding, she said.
More victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation will be able to seek an independent review of their cases, the government has said.
Source:
www.bbc.com
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