The opening phase of the hearings will focus on the experiences and perspectives of victims and survivors

The Grooming Gangs inquiry has today announced details of a series of ‘accountability’ hearings, during which organisations and institutions will be asked to explain what steps they took to protect children from sexual exploitation.

It comes 12 years after an explosive report blew the lid off the shocking Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal

The report, from Professor Alexis Jay, revealed how an estimated 1,400 children in the town had been abused by grooming gangs and ignored by those who should have protected them.

The Grooming Gangs inquiry has today announced details of a series of ‘accountability’ hearings, during which organisations and institutions will be asked to explain what steps they took to protect children from sexual exploitation | 3rd party

placeholder image — The Grooming Gangs inquiry has today announced details of a series of ‘accountability’ hearings, during which organisations and institutions will be asked to explain what steps they took to protect children from sexual exploitation | 3rd party

The report laid bare how men of predominantly Pakistani heritage abused vulnerable girls between 1997 and 2013.

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion was amongst the figures calling for the Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, which has now announced its first set of “National Accountability Hearings.”

The hearings will build on Baroness Louise Casey's 2025 National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and examine why “lessons identified through previous inquiries, reviews, inspections and investigations too often failed to result in meaningful change.”

A spokesperson for The Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs said: “The National Accountability Hearings will require organisations and institutions to explain what action they took to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse, what progress was made, and why recommendations did not deliver the improvements that were promised.”

Rotherham abuse survivors Sammy Woodhouse and Sarah Wilson | Dean Atkins

Among the recognised legal representatives representing some of the victims and survivors is Amy Clowrey from Switalskis Solicitors, the firm which works with victims of child sexual exploitation throughout the UK and has been central in representing Rotherham survivors including Sammy Woodhouse and Sarah Wilson.

Amy, who previously received a prestigious award for her work to ensure CSE in Rotherham survivors accessed justice, joins four colleagues from Switalski Solicitors as legal representation.

Baroness Anne Longfield CBE, Chair of the Inquiry, said: "We are determined to establish the truth about these horrific crimes, understand why children were failed for so long, and ensure that those responsible for protecting them are held properly to account.

"These hearings are not simply about identifying what needs to change. They are about understanding why change did not always follow, who was responsible, and what must now happen to make sure these failures are not repeated."

The opening phases of the National Accountability Hearings are set to take place in London during the weeks of December 14, 2026 and January 11, 2027 and will focus on the experiences and perspectives of victims and survivors, with further hearings planned for March and April 2027.

Jayne Senior of Swinton Lock. | Iconic Media Group

The spokesperson said: “The Inquiry’s national hearings and local investigations are parts of the same work, informing each other to build a clear national picture and final recommendations.

“What happens locally helps the Inquiry test whether national systems worked in practice, and what it hears nationally will be tested against real experiences on the ground.

“This is how the Inquiry will assess whether meaningful change has taken place, and where it has not, why not and what needs to change.”

Today, the Inquiry has also published the list of Core Participants for the National Accountability Hearings, which includes a number of victims and survivors and groups supporting them.

Among the Core Participants is Jayne Senior MBE, the whistleblower who managed the council youth project Risky Business in Rotherham from 1999 to 2011 and helped to expose the CSE scandal.

Added the spokesperson: “In awarding Core Participant status, the Chair of the Inquiry considers whether a person played, or may have played, a direct and significant role in relation to the matters to which the inquiry relates, whether they have a significant interest in an important aspect of the matters to which the inquiry relates, or whether the person may be subject to explicit or significant criticism during the inquiry proceedings or in the report, or in any interim report.”