Darren Millar calls for assurances that Welsh cases will be properly examined, as first local investigations are named in England
WELSH victims of group-based child sexual exploitation must not be left on the margins of the national grooming gangs inquiry, the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives has warned.
Darren Millar MS has called on the Welsh Government to seek urgent assurances that cases from Wales will be properly examined by the statutory inquiry chaired by Baroness Anne Longfield.
The inquiry formally covers England and Wales, but the first named local investigations are London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley. No Welsh area has yet been listed as one of the first local investigation sites.
Mr Millar said that has raised serious questions about whether Welsh victims and survivors will be given the same level of scrutiny, particularly where devolved public services may have failed to identify or protect children at risk.
He said schools, councils, social services, health boards and safeguarding partnerships in Wales must be prepared to answer difficult questions about what was known, what was missed and whether vulnerable children were properly protected.
Mr Millar said: “The grooming gangs scandal was not confined to a handful of towns in England.
“We know organised child sexual exploitation happened in Wales, Welsh victims suffered appalling abuse and there are serious questions about whether public bodies did enough to protect vulnerable children.
“Victims deserve confidence that no stone will be left unturned in uncovering the truth.
“If the UK inquiry is not going to investigate Wales, then the Welsh Government must establish a Wales-specific inquiry into the role of devolved public services, including schools, health boards and local authorities.
“There is evidence that vulnerable children have been failed by the very institutions that should have protected them. It is unforgivable that warnings were ignored and victims were dismissed because people avoided having uncomfortable conversations that could have raised the alarm about safeguarding concerns.
“Lessons must be learned to ensure these horrific crimes can never happen again.”
The call comes amid renewed UK-wide scrutiny of group-based child sexual exploitation and the repeated failure of public bodies to act on warnings from victims, families and frontline professionals.
The statutory inquiry was established after Baroness Louise Casey’s national audit into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse. It will examine how children were targeted, how institutions responded and whether public bodies failed to act because of poor practice, weak leadership, cultural sensitivities, or a failure to treat victims with credibility and care.
The inquiry has powers to compel evidence and require witnesses to give testimony. It is expected to look at failures by local authorities, police, health services, schools and other public bodies.
Although Wales is included in the formal England and Wales remit, the inquiry has made clear that it will not investigate every area where abuse may have taken place. Victims and survivors outside the named local investigation areas are still able to share evidence.
That distinction is now central to the political argument in Wales.
The Welsh Conservatives say it is not enough for Wales to be technically covered by the inquiry if Welsh cases are not examined in detail. They argue that Welsh victims need public confidence that the inquiry will follow the evidence into Welsh institutions where necessary.
The issue is especially sensitive because child protection, education, social services, health boards and safeguarding arrangements are devolved responsibilities in Wales. Policing and criminal justice remain largely reserved to Westminster, meaning any proper examination of Welsh failures would need to look at how devolved and non-devolved bodies worked together.
Wales has already featured in previous national scrutiny of child sexual exploitation. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse included Swansea as one of its case study areas when it examined child sexual exploitation by organised networks.
That inquiry found concerns around the way cases were identified, recorded and understood. It said examples of exploitation by networks or groups should have been identified by police and the local authority.
The Welsh Government has previously argued that an England and Wales inquiry is the best way to examine the issue, rather than setting up a separate Wales-only process. It has also published a 10-year strategy for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse in Wales.
That strategy is intended to improve prevention, strengthen professional responses, support children and families, and provide help for adult survivors.
However, the Welsh Conservatives say a safeguarding strategy cannot replace accountability for historic failures.
They argue that victims need answers about whether warnings were missed, whether agencies failed to share information, whether children in care were properly protected, and whether professionals wrongly dismissed victims instead of recognising exploitation.
Campaigners and specialist support organisations have also warned that any inquiry must remain focused on victims and survivors rather than becoming a party-political row.
They have stressed that child sexual exploitation can take many forms, including online grooming, trafficking, abuse by groups or networks, criminal exploitation, familial abuse and abuse by people in positions of trust.
Mr Millar said Welsh victims must not be treated as an afterthought.
The Herald has contacted the Welsh Government for comment and asked whether Ministers have sought assurances that Welsh evidence will be fully considered by the inquiry.
We have also asked whether the Welsh Government would consider a Wales-specific investigation if no Welsh area is selected for detailed examination.
