By Chris Tuck – Founder, Survivors of Abuse (SoB) | Former IICSA Victims & Survivors Consultative Panel Member (2015–2022)

1. INTRODUCTION
This week has seen renewed political activity on grooming gangs:
• Tuesday: The Conservative Party published its proposed Terms of Reference
• Wednesday: The Labour Government released the statutory inquiry’s draft Terms of Reference and structure

For many survivors, campaigners and practitioners, this feels uncannily familiar.
Because we saw the same confusion, instability and mistrust during the early phase of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in 2014–2015.

The underlying reason is clear:

The IICSA recommendations — designed to fix the deep systemic weaknesses behind CSA, including grooming gangs — were accepted but never implemented by either party.

As a result, the Grooming Gangs Inquiry is walking straight into the same early structural problems that IICSA exposed.

This analysis sets out:
• the historical timeline of grooming gang failures
• the cross-cutting themes identified across inquiries
• how today’s instability mirrors the flawed set-up of IICSA
• how implementation of IICSA would have prevented these failures
• what must happen now to ensure real change

2. HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF GROUP-BASED CSE FAILURES

2003–2008: Early warnings ignored
Police and social care repeatedly dismissed or minimised disclosures from children being groomed and exploited by organised groups.

2009 – Derbyshire (Operation Central)
Early evidence of organised operations, yet multi-agency failures persisted.

2010–2012 – Rochdale
Victims labelled “not credible”.
CPS initially refused to prosecute.
Systemic misogyny and class bias exposed.

2012–2013 – Oxford (Operation Bullfinch)
Trafficking, rape, coercion, intimidation.
Agencies failed repeatedly to intervene.

2014 – Rotherham (Alexis Jay Report)
1,400 children abused (1997–2013).
Findings included:
• failure to act
• racial sensitivity fears
• victim-blaming
• leadership paralysis

2014–2015 – IICSA formed amid turmoil
Chairs resigning, survivor mistrust, TOR disputes, political interference.

2015 – OCC Intrafamilial CSA Inquiry
Key finding: Only 1 in 8 abused children are known to authorities.

2017–2019 – Telford, Newcastle, Huddersfield
Same systemic failures repeated.

2020 – Home Office Group-Based CSE Report
Criticised for selective framing and narrow methodology.

2024 – Rupert Lowe launches “The People’s Inquiry”
Raised £500k rapidly due to public dissatisfaction and perceived lack of political will.

June 2025 – Casey National Audit
Found systemic data gaps and inconsistent recognition of group-based CSE.

January 2026 – Two competing Terms of Reference within 24 hours
• Conservatives (Tuesday)
• Labour/Government (Wednesday)

3. HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF: TODAY’S INQUIRY MIRRORS IICSA’S EARLY PROBLEMS

The Grooming Gangs Inquiry is experiencing the same early dysfunction that destabilised IICSA:

⭐ 1. Unclear scope and competing TOR
IICSA: TOR rewritten multiple times.
Today: Two political TORs published in two days.
⭐ 2. Leadership instability
IICSA: Three Chairs resigned.
Today: Delays and concerns around chair selection.
⭐ 3. Survivor mistrust
IICSA: Survivor walkouts, public distrust.
Today: Survivors again feel excluded and sidelined.
⭐ 4. Political interference
IICSA: Politicised appointments, TOR disputes.
Today: Competing political press releases shaping the narrative.
⭐ 5. Poor communication
IICSA: Survivors learning updates through the media.
Today: The same pattern repeating.
⭐ 6. Absence of trauma-informed design
IICSA eventually built strong survivor structures — but too late.
Today’s inquiry risks repeating early harm.
These repeated dynamics are predictable — because the reforms that would have prevented them were never implemented.

4. WHY THIS IS HAPPENING: IICSA’S RECOMMENDATIONS WERE NOT DELIVERED

The IICSA recommendations were designed to:
• stabilise national child protection
• enforce cooperation
• embed consistent data
• strengthen leadership
• ensure survivor participation
• transform culture across agencies

Without implementation, the same weak foundations, blind spots and cultural barriers persist.

5. WHAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT TODAY IF IICSA HAD BEEN IMPLEMENTED?

⭐ 1. Child Protection Authorities (CPA) would be operating
Providing national oversight, accountability and early problem detection.
⭐ 2. A national CSA dataset would exist
Ending politicised disputes about ethnicity, prevalence and patterns.
⭐ 3. Mandatory reporting would be in force
Ensuring early action and reducing minimisation.
⭐ 4. A national public awareness campaign would be running
Improving public understanding of grooming, coercion and signs.
⭐ 5. Survivor governance would be embedded
Preventing mistrust, resignations and tokenistic involvement.
⭐ 6. Long-term support and redress would be available
Reducing retraumatisation during inquiries.
⭐ 7. Cultural change in policing, social care and education would be underway

Strengthening leadership, safeguarding and accountability.

We would be years into reform — not repeating the same avoidable mistakes.

6. ESSENTIAL RESEARCH TO GUIDE SURVIVOR INVOLVEMENT NOW

🔵 La Trobe / Essex University Research (2023)
Lived Experience Panels Consulting to Inquiries: Maximising Benefits & Minimising Harms

👉 https://opal.latrobe.edu.au/articles/report/Lived_Experience_Panels_Consulting_to_Inquiries_Maximising_Benefits_and_Minimising_Harms/24708222

This research — which you co-authored — sets the gold standard for survivor involvement across inquiries.

7. WHAT MUST HAPPEN NOW
✔ Implement IICSA recommendations urgently
✔ Establish Child Protection Authorities
✔ Legislate mandatory reporting
✔ Build the national CSA dataset
✔ Embed trauma-informed survivor governance
✔ Ensure cross-party cooperation
✔ Coordinate between the statutory inquiry & the People’s Inquiry
✔ Reform the Inquiries Act so recommendations become enforceable Support that here:
📢 https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/735772

8. FINAL MESSAGE
The problems we are seeing today in the early stages of the Grooming Gangs Inquiry are not new.

They are the same patterns that destabilised IICSA a decade ago — because the recommended reforms were never delivered.

We already know the solutions.

We already have the roadmap.

We now need political will, cross-party cooperation and survivor-centred governance to implement what has been known for years.

History is repeating — but it doesn’t have to.