Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed on 9 December 2025 the appointment of Baroness Anne Longfield CBE as Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, with Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as panellists. The Home Office simultaneously published draft terms of reference, and on 10 December released related correspondence for transparency.
According to the Home Office, the inquiry will be established under the Inquiries Act 2005 with full powers to compel evidence and testimony. Ministers have set a budget of up to £65 million and a maximum operating period of three years, with final terms due by March 2026, when the inquiry will formally commence. The inquiry implements recommendation 2 of Baroness Casey’s National Audit published in June 2025.
Biographies published by the Home Office underline Longfield’s experience as Children’s Commissioner, Billingham’s decade at HMICFRS, and Kelly’s senior local government leadership, including recovery roles after Grenfell and the London Bridge attack. Longfield has confirmed she has resigned the Labour whip and will take a leave of absence from the House of Lords for the duration of the inquiry to underline institutional independence.
The draft terms set out a national panel directing targeted local investigations across England and Wales. Within six months of commencement, the inquiry and Operation Beaconport-the national policing operation referenced in the government material-must publish a memorandum of understanding covering information‑sharing and coordination.
Oldham will be treated as an early priority. In letters dated 9 December, the Home Secretary confirmed Oldham’s status within the national programme; Longfield endorsed the prioritisation and an initial visit in the New Year; and the Council Leader welcomed the shift from a standalone local review to participation in the statutory process.
The Chair will consult on the draft terms in January before submitting recommendations to ministers. In parallel, the inquiry will establish a secretariat, appoint a secretary, legal team and counsel, and put in place safeguarding and specialist support for victims and survivors who choose to engage.
Substantively, the draft terms instruct the panel to examine how ethnicity, religion and culture influenced both offending and institutional responses, and to assess systemic, organisational and individual failures alongside the impact on victims, survivors and professionals who raised concerns.
Policy Wire analysis: for forces, councils and safeguarding partnerships, this framework implies immediate operational preparation-evidence preservation, disclosure planning consistent with statutory compulsion, senior ownership of local investigations, and refreshed trauma‑informed engagement pathways-so that January consultations and early scoping work can proceed without delay. The Home Office indicates further practical detail will be set out in the New Year.
In her statement to Parliament, the Home Secretary said victims and survivors will remain central to the process. The government’s collection page also signposts support services and notes that contact details for the inquiry will be published once its website is live in the New Year.
To document decisions, the Home Office has published seven letters: Baroness Casey’s recommendation to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary; the Home Secretary’s appointment letter to the panel; Longfield’s acceptance and independence steps; an exchange with Oldham Council; and correspondence appointing Casey as an adviser to the inquiry. All were published on 10 December 2025.