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UK Ministers Label Councils 'Idiots' as Inquiry Chair Shortlist and AI Funding Bolster Grooming Gang Crackdown

The Home Office has mandated ethnicity data reform alongside AI funding for the NCA to re-examine 1,200 closed child exploitation cases.

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Overview

  • Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips condemned councils that deny local grooming gang issues as “idiots” and rejected claims that Elon Musk influenced the decision to launch a national inquiry.
  • A shortlist for the chair of the three-year national grooming gang inquiry has been finalized following Baroness Casey’s rapid audit in June.
  • Operation Beaconport, led by the National Crime Agency, is now reviewing more than 1,200 closed child sexual exploitation cases to identify institutional failures.
  • The Home Office has instructed all police chiefs to improve ethnicity data collection on suspects, with legislation promised if voluntary reforms fall short.
  • Ministers have allocated £426,000 to deploy AI tools across all 43 police forces in England and Wales, with early users reporting over £20 million saved and 16,000 investigative hours recovered.