Calderdale leader calls for district to be included in future phases of grooming gangs inquiry
It has been announced that the first places to be investigated will be Bradford and Keighley, Oldham and London.
Including Calderdale in future phases of the grooming gangs inquiry is “essential” to get justice for the survivors and ensuring lessons are learned, says the council’s Leader.
Last month Coun Dan Sutherland, as Leader of Calderdale Council, wrote to Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, Baroness Anne Longfield, urging that Calderdale is included.
It has been announced that the first places to be investigated will be Bradford and Keighley, Oldham and London.
Coun Sutherland, whose Reform UK group won control of Calderdale Council in May’s local elections, said the inquiry had responded to him.
“Last month, I wrote to Baroness Longfield, Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, urging that Calderdale is selected as an area of focus in the inquiry.
“I have since received a reply from Baroness Longfield, welcoming our offer to support the inquiry, and which recognises the strength of feeling in Calderdale.
“Whilst the announcement today means that we are not included in the first phase of the investigation, we see the inclusion of Calderdale in future phases of the inquiry essential in getting justice for the survivors and learning lessons to ensure these horrific crimes are prevented in future.
“We are expecting further information in due course,” he said.
Reform UK Calderdale have said in a post on their social media pages that they will keep up the pressure for inclusion.
“If Calderdale is not selected in the next phase we will not let the matter rest and seek an alternative way to ensure the victims of these horrendous crimes receive the justice they deserve,” said the group.
Calderdale Labour has said their group welcomes the announcement that Bradford and Keighley will be among the first areas examined.
However, the group said they “support Mayor Tracy Brabin’s position that there should be a West Yorkshire-wide focus to ensure the full scale of these crimes and any institutional failings are properly understood.”
Labour said while the inquiry’s initial focus will be on Bradford and Keighley, “there are victims and survivors in Calderdale who are also seeking answers, accountability and justice.”
Child sexual exploitation does not stop at local authority boundaries, and grooming gangs pay no regard to council borders, they said.
“These crimes often span communities and districts, making it vital that lessons learned through the inquiry are shared and acted upon across the whole of West Yorkshire,” they said.
Labour’s post on its social media pages has been greeted with scepticism from Reform UK Calderdale on its own social media pages.
“Interestingly, a local opposition party is claiming to welcome the news when they refused a local inquiry, didn’t request to be included in the national inquiry and actively ensured the matter didn’t come to Scrutiny last year,” they posted.
This partly referenced a debate on grooming gangs introduced by Reform UK at full council last July.
A Labour motion was passed supporting the national inquiry and committing the council to work fully and openly with any investigation – which Labour said in their social media post this week remains their position.
However, Reform UK councillors wanted so see the council create a newly-created Inquiry oversight committee, involving all groups, to be set up as a lead body responsible for the engagement.
But the Labour group amendment, which ultimately became the approved motion, proposed scrutiny should take place using the existing Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Board (CYP).
The issue of grooming gangs had not been discussed at the board’s meetings by the end of the 2025-26 municipal year.
It is one of the scrutiny boards the new Reform administration have now scrapped, instead directing scrutiny issues to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings.
At last summer’s debate, Coun Sutherland (Illingworth and Mixenden) said of grooming gangs “Calderdale finds itself in the eye of the storm” and argued public trust in organisations including national and local government and the police was at “an absolute minimum”, which is why he was proposing the oversight committee he argued would be much more transparent.
Coun Adam Wilkinson (Sowerby Bridge), then Cabinet member for Children and Young People’s Services and now Labour group leader on the council, refuted this, reaffirming the pledge to fully co-operate with the inquiry.
Relating to past failures, he said West Yorkshire Police and Calderdale Council issued public apologies and had not shied away from acknowledging the failures of the past.