'IN THE LONG GRASS?' — MPs CLASH Over Grooming Gang Inquiry Delay

'IN THE LONG GRASS?' — MPs CLASH Over Grooming Gang Inquiry Delay | Minister Confirms It Won't Conclude Until 2029 One year ago, Dame Louise Casey published a national audit into group-based child sexual exploitation. It exposed more than a decade of institutional failure. The government accepted all twelve of her recommendations. Today Parliament was asked a simple question. One year on — is enough being done, fast enough? The minister confirmed the independent statutory inquiry will not conclude until 2029. The Conservative MP who asked the question put it directly — is this simply in the long grass? Earlier this week, an independent report into grooming gangs was published by the MP for Great Yarmouth. Another MP told Parliament her constituents want to know why the government's own inquiry will take three more years when his did not. Here is what was confirmed today: The inquiry was established in April. It will conclude by 2029. It has £65 million of funding. The law has changed so 13 to 16 year olds cannot be considered to have consented to sex. Operation Beaconport, a new National Crime Agency operation, has £38 million of funding this year and is reopening closed cases. The government has committed to mandating ethnicity data reporting by police forces — after admitting some forces have resisted collecting it. Here is what was raised but not resolved: A constituent's testimony that some convicted abusers have already been released early. Why the government's own inquiry will take until 2029 when an independent report on the same subject was completed this week. The minister called the two pieces of work a completely different thing. She did not say why one took years longer than the other. Here is exactly what was said. ——— All Parliamentary footage used under the Open Parliament Licence — parliament.uk Source: House of Commons — Urgent Question on the Casey Review One Year On — 18 June 2026. ——— 🔔 Subscribe for weekly breakdowns of what Parliament is actually saying — not the version they put in the press release. Casey review one year on, grooming gang inquiry UK, grooming gang inquiry 2029, group-based child sexual exploitation, Dame Louise Casey review, statutory inquiry grooming gangs, Operation Beaconport, Rupert Lowe grooming gang report, Mims Davies urgent question, Sarah Jones Home Office minister, ethnicity data police grooming, grooming gangs Parliament 2026, grooming gang inquiry timeline, Casey review recommendations, child sexual exploitation inquiry UK, grooming gangs statutory inquiry funding, UK politics 2026, British politics 2026, parliamentary accountability, Royal Frontier, UK investigative journalism, grooming gang inquiry confidence, child protection failures UK, grooming gangs accountability Parliament