Badenoch welcomes grooming gangs inquiry expansion to Birmingham and Wales ahead of Tory conference

From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026.

Birmingham and Wales are to fall within the scope of the national grooming gangs inquiry, chaired by former children's commissioner Anne Longfield, who will hold statutory powers to summon witnesses and demand documents. Kemi Badenoch has welcomed the expansion ahead of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham this weekend. The Welsh strand will look at offending throughout the country rather than being confined to a single town or city.

The inquiry will scrutinise what individuals and agencies 'did or did not do to protect children from being sexually abused' over decades of rape, beatings and druggings.

A government backlash last year over refusing to fund a statutory inquiry — including from Elon Musk — forced ministers to act after a recommendation by crossbench peer Louise Casey.

There is cross-party backing in the Senedd for the Welsh strand, with the inquiry also set to examine, at a national level, the responses of the NHS, the police, and local and central government.