Tom Crowther KC says public inquiries seen as ‘Rolls-Royce solution’ but local review in Shropshire led to real progress. Public inquiries are seen as the “Rolls-Royce solution” to tackling the grooming gangs scandal but local reviews are more effective, the former chair of the Telford child sexual exploitation (CSE) inquiry has said.
Tom Crowther KC said the “Telford model” led to real progress in the Shropshire town and could be used in towns across the country looking into similar CSE scandals. He said: “Everyone wants a public inquiry. It’s seen as the Rolls-Royce solution. But we couldn’t have had the result that we’ve had in Telford through a public inquiry.
“We saw far more people in Telford than ever would have come forward if that had been a formal inquiry.”. The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has joined calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, an issue subject to fierce debate after it was revealed the safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, turned down a request for a public inquiry into exploitation in Oldham in favour of a council-commissioned review.
Burnham said he thought there was scope for a “limited national inquiry” that “compels people to give evidence who then may have charges to answer and be held to account”. The government said its main priority was implementing the recommendations of the national independent report into child sexual abuse published in 2022, and MPs rejected calls for a new national inquiry in a Commons vote on Wednesday.
