The Grooming Gangs Inquiry
Last week in Westminster, in the news and online there has been a lot of conversation about the horrifying crimes of child sexual abuse, and how we as a country go about investigating, prosecuting and preventing these atrocities from taking place.
No child should ever have to experience sexual abuse. These are horrifying crimes that cause so much harm to the children who are victims. We need to be taking action to stop this - which means ensuring that perpetrators face the full force of the law, and that steps are taken to make sure these sorts of crimes can’t keep happening in the future.
Liberal Democrats are committed to supporting whatever works best to bring that change forward. If another inquiry will make that happen, of course we’ll support it.
But we should not forget that a seven year long inquiry into child sexual abuse - chaired by Professor Alexis Jay - has already happened. The report was published in 2022, and I remember listening to discussion about the reports on the radio, but at the time I didn’t read the IISCA report itself.
This week prompted me to read the introduction and the twenty recommendations. I stopped short when I got to the passage about the sexual assaults committed in the 1990s by Peter Ball (page 7) whilst he was the Bishop of Lewes and then the Bishop of Gloucester. Back then, I attended the school linked to Gloucester Cathedral, and Peter Ball would be a VIP visitor at some events during the school year. I can remember the news breaking that there was an investigation into him. I am not aware whether any of his victims were my fellow pupils, and it strikes me that this wasn’t really examined too closely. Maybe it was, and I was just unaware or protected from it.
Alexis Jay’s final report made 20 recommendations to better protect children in the future. The previous Conservative government sat on their hands and failed to make any progress at implementing these.
The Conservatives’ inaction was shameful - and it’s disgraceful that they are now choosing to use the victims of this scandal as a political football.
Last Wednesday, the Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which we did not vote for. This is because voting for the Conservatives’ amendment would not have secured a national inquiry for victims of child sexual abuse. That is because it was something called a ‘reasoned amendment’. Voting for a reasoned amendment would have only one result - it would block the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill from passing through Parliament (you can read the definition of a ‘reasoned amendment’ here).
That is why I did not support the Conservatives’ amendment which - rather than introduce an inquiry - would prevent the passage of important child safeguarding measures. Instead I have signed the Liberal Democrat motion that calls on the government to implement the Jay inquiry amendments in full, with regular reports to Parliament on their progress.
We have also laid an amendment to the Bill at committee stage calling on the recommendations to be enacted in full. This is proper opposition, not cheap politicking. Our amendments will seek to strengthen, not wreck the Bill.
As a first priority, the government should focus on implementing these recommendations as quickly as possible, with clear timescales and regular reporting to Parliament on their progress. This includes creating a dedicated Child Protection Authority, strengthening the criminal justice response to these cases, and appointing a new Minister for Children.
I welcome the decision by the government to bring in a duty of mandatory sexual abuse reporting, which would require people working with children and in positions of trust to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the relevant authorities. I and my colleagues will continue to hold the government to account on this.
As the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill passes through Parliament, Liberal Democrats will be using every opportunity we have to push for real action to tackle the child sexual abuse scandal.
It is said that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ and that is why we will keep up the pressure to make sure the government doesn’t drag its heels, so that victims and survivors can get the redress they deserve, and make our communities safe for girls - and all children.
Getting in touch
My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch and I will do my best to help.
Best wishes,
Alison
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