The Home Secretary is reportedly set to announce a series of local reviews into grooming gangs after she was threatened with legal action.
Maggie Oliver, a former detective who resigned from Greater Manchester Police in 2012, warned Yvette Cooper in a pre-action letter on Wednesday (January 16) that she would take her to court unless she takes “urgent steps to allay widespread public concern” over gangs sexually exploiting children.
The news comes just before Ms Cooper is set to make a statement in the Commons on child sexual exploitation and abuse on Thursday afternoon.
According to the BBC, Ms Cooper will announce a £10 million plan to launch local inquiries into grooming gangs which will focus on the “cultural drivers” and ethnicity of the gangs.
Ms Cooper is also expected to ask police forces to reopen so-called cold cases relating to child sexual exploitation and abuse, the BBC said.
In a statement from the charity set up in her name, Ms Oliver said she had put Ms Cooper “on notice” that she would seek a judicial review in the High Court unless the Home Secretary “publicly confirms that she will implement all 20 of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and publishes a timetable for implementation of those recommendations, and takes urgent steps to allay widespread public concern regarding the grooming and sexual abuse by organised gangs/groups”.
If Ms Cooper “does not agree to these reasonable requests”, Ms Oliver added: “I will issue an application to the High Court seeking permission to challenge the Secretary of State’s refusal to take action on urgent issues of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation. I recognise that there are a range of views on these issues amongst survivors, victims and other interested parties.
“However, I would ask all persons who are concerned about children to support my request for urgent, tangible and transparent action to combat the epidemic of abuse of children.”
It comes as the political debate over the grooming scandal continued to rage in the wake of a slew of attacks online from tech billionaire X-owner Elon Musk aimed at Sir Keir Starmer. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has repeatedly clashed with the Prime Minister over calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The Government has resisted calls for a fresh review in favour of locally-led probes, saying it is instead focused on implementing recommendations the findings from IICSA after the inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay published its final report in 2022.