Grooming gangs review won’t take 18 months, says Gilruth

A review into whether there should be a public inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland will not take 18 months, the Education Secretary has said, despite information released by the review this month.

The Government launched the project in December following pressure to order a public inquiry into the issue, bringing together the Care Inspectorate, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE).

But concerns were raised when the review said the first two of its three phases could take as much as 18 months to report.

The first phase will look at the scale of the issue, along with assessing the arrangements currently in place for the detection and prevention of grooming gang activity.

The second and third phases will look to understand what is working to prevent grooming gangs and what can be improved, including that which may merit a national response.

Taking questions in Holyrood on Thursday, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, the minister responsible for child protection, said the timeline would be faster.

“It will not take 18 months,” she said.

“The first phase of assessment is already under way, with local authorities having 12 weeks to respond.

“The inspectors have committed to reporting to minister by the summer of this year, once they have assessed those findings.

“The findings will be scrutinised by the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group, which is chaired by Professor Alexis Jay.”

Ms Gilruth added that she will provide more information to Holyrood in a statement next week.

The Education Secretary also told MSPs she would be meeting with Prof Jay – an expert on the subject – on Thursday.