“Public authorities have failed you.” With that blunt acknowledgment, the newly appointed panel for the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs has written directly to victims and survivors. The open letter, dated 9 December and published by the Home Office on 10 December, promises independence, transparency and a focus on truth and accountability as its first formal act.

The letter is signed by Chair Baroness Anne Longfield CBE with panellists Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE. Their appointment under the Inquiries Act was confirmed this week, with the Home Office describing a three‑year statutory process to finally get answers for victims and survivors.

This inquiry follows Baroness Louise Casey’s National Audit, commissioned by ministers and published on 16 June 2025. Recommendation 2 called for a national inquiry alongside a coordinated police operation to confront historic and current failures in responses to group‑based child sexual exploitation.

The draft terms of reference set out how this will work. The chair will consult survivors and agencies in January, with final terms due by March 2026. Local investigations will run in selected areas where evidence shows past failings, and the Home Secretary has said “no location will be able to resist a local investigation”. Oldham has already been confirmed as one of the first.

Survivors’ voices are to be central. The panel says it will meet groups of victims and survivors in the first months, recognising that trust must be earned after years of broken promises. A dedicated secretariat will be set up with safeguarding and support in place for those taking part. Further details of the engagement process will follow in January.

For readers across the North, this lands after long and painful histories. The Rotherham inquiry in 2014 identified widespread abuse and serious institutional failures, and the Rochdale prosecutions earlier in the decade exposed how agencies missed chances to protect children. Many here will judge this new inquiry by whether such failures are finally owned and fixed.

Where new evidence emerges, the panel says it will pass material to the National Crime Agency‑overseen policing effort, Operation Beaconport. Government has already begun supporting that operation with technology upgrades across forces to help identify and disrupt organised exploitation.

Ministers say the inquiry will examine whether ethnicity, religion or culture influenced both offending patterns and official responses, while avoiding blanket blame of entire communities. The government has set a three‑year timetable, and external reporting has put the budget for the inquiry at around £65 million.

What matters now is delivery. The panel has asked for patience while it consults on terms in January and finalises the framework by March 2026. Baroness Casey will advise the inquiry to help keep it focused on accountability. People in Oldham, Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire will expect clear timelines, open hearings where appropriate, and practical recommendations their councils and police leaders must implement.

If you are affected by these issues, the government says information on support is available and that participation will be trauma‑informed. For many survivors in our region, that promise will be measured not by words but by whether abusers face justice and whether agencies change how they work with children and families.