"Keir Starmer's national grooming gangs inquiry has stalled amid wrangles over its remit and difficulties in finding a senior legal figure willing to become its chair, the Guardian has been told. Terms of the statutory investigation are still being discussed by a panel of stakeholders including survivors of abuse rings, four months after the prime minister bowed to pressure and set it up. The search for a chair of the panel is still to be completed, the Home Office has confirmed."
"Judges and lawyers appear to be reluctant to head the inquiry, a source said. Officials are said to be working to appoint a chair who will then play a central role in shaping the terms and scope of the inquiry and identify a first area for review. Starmer previously resisted pressure for a new national inquiry into grooming gangs, and said earlier this year such a move would delay justice for victims"
A national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs has stalled because stakeholders disagree over its remit and officials have struggled to recruit a senior legal chair. A panel including survivors continues to debate whether to include child sexual exploitation and non-street-based perpetrators and whether to widen the remit to regional or other types of sexual abuse. Judges and lawyers have been reluctant to chair the inquiry. Officials hope an appointed chair will shape the inquiry's terms and identify an initial review area. The inquiry was launched after political pressure and a three-month audit by Dame Louise Casey.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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