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A long-awaited inquiry into grooming gangs may now not take place until next year.
Government sources have told The Times that it could take months to find a new chair after both contenders to oversee the probe – former police officer Jim Gamble and Annie Hudson – pulled out this week.
The government is taking urgent steps to find new candidates after the exit of “leading” option Mr Gamble – but ministers will “take the time, likely months”, to appoint the right chair, the source said.
The inquiry has been thrown into disarray after the loss of the two candidates to chair the probe, as well as the departure of five women from the victims liaison panel.
Four of the women who quit have said they would be prepared to return if safeguarding minister Jess Phillips resigns, while five of those still on the advisory panel have said they would only stay if she remains in post.
The five backing Ms Phillips said in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer and home secretary Shabana Mahmood that her retaining her role is one of the conditions for their continued participation.
They wrote that the minister has “remained impartial” and “we want her to remain in position for the duration of the process for consistency”.
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Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips is facing calls to resign (PA) (PA Wire)
It came after four of those who quit the panel – Ellie-Ann Reynolds, Fiona Goddard, Elizabeth Harper and a woman signed only as “Jessica” – sent a letter with conditions that must be met for them to return.
Those include Ms Phillips standing down, for the inquiry to be “laser-focused” on grooming gangs, and for its chair to be a former or sitting judge.
On Wednesday, Mr Gamble withdrew from contention of chairing the inquiry, citing “political opportunism” and “point-scoring” while admitting that his police background meant some survivors “couldn’t place their confidence in me”.
Ms Hudson, who served as a director of children’s services for Lambeth, was reported to have withdrawn on Tuesday.
Speaking on the search for a new chair, the source added to The Times: “With the loss of the leading candidate for the chair of the grooming gangs inquiry, the government is taking urgent steps to ensure a new candidate is found.”
Ministers plan to “re-engage” with victims and “listen to their concerns and take their opinions on the type of person they want to lead the inquiry”. Sir Keir has been personally reaching out to contact the survivors in the middle of the crisis, it is understood.
Baroness Louise Casey, who has been drafted in to support the work of the probe, will work closely with the Government on finding a new field of candidates for chair.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer discusses digital IDs with employees of Barclays in Brighton (Pete Nicholls/PA) (PA Wire)
On Tuesday, Ms Phillips told MPs that “allegations of intentional delay, lack of interest or widening of the inquiry scope and dilution are false”.
A Downing Street spokesperson denied any suggestion Ms Phillips has been sidelined from the case, telling reporters: “Minister Phillips has spent her career fighting for victims and survivors and trying to protect them from abuse.
“And since being in post as the minister for safeguarding, she’s been working incredibly closely with victims and survivors and is determined to get them justice.
The turmoil over the inquiry continues as a report by police watchdog His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services found there has been encouraging progress but “significant challenges” remained in how police tackle child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs.
The watchdog said in a new progress report that issues over data accuracy and co-ordination nationally risk weakening the policing response in efforts to crack down on group-based child sexual exploitation.
Inspectors said more than half of police forces still fail to include data from partners such as charities or social services in their assessments.
Among six new recommendations, the inspectorate called for the universal use of Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s definition of an “organised network”, and for improvements to data collection.
