Labour response to grooming gangs scandal 'not good enough' warns author of official report, who says patience is wearing 'very, very thin'

Published: 11:55 EST, 11 November 2026 | Updated: 11:59 EST, 11 November 2026 Ministers are dragging their feet on tackling Asian grooming gangs, the author of an official report into the scandal has warned.Louise Casey published a damning ‘audit’ of the authorities’ failure to deal with grooming gangs last year, saying that the findings of previous reports had been ignored.Ministers accepted all 20 of her recommendations at the time. But 18 months on, she said progress on implementing her findings ‘has not been what I would like it to be’.The Whitehall troubleshooter said ministers had still not acted on calls to collect vital data on the ethnicity of offenders. She said her patience on the issue had ‘worn very, very thin’ after discovering how little progress had been made since she first reported on grooming gang activity in Rotherham in 2015.She told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: ‘I would like more momentum on the changes needed, both in the police and the Home Office on the way we collect data.‘We are still not prepared to collect data in terms of religion and ethnicity – all the things that get us into hot water where we do not have the right evidence to analyse what is going on in terms of abuse of children and grooming gangs and how they operate.'I'm impatient for change and I don't think the momentum has been good enough.' Downing Street refused to say whether it would legislate for the report’s recommendation to make having sex with a child aged 13, 14 or 15 a statutory rape offence, as it is for younger children. Impatient: Louise Casey said the government is still failing grooming gang victimsBaroness Casey’s report criticised an ‘appalling lack of data on ethnicity’, saying the issue had been ‘dodged for years’ in an apparent effort to avoid highlighting the predominance of cases involving gangs of Asian men.She said there had been ‘enough convictions across the country of groups of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds to have warranted closer examination,’ but added: ‘Instead of examination, we have seen obfuscation. In a vacuum, incomplete and unreliable data is used to suit the ends of those presenting it.'Downing Street insisted the government was not dragging its heels. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said police forces had been asked to review all previous grooming gang cases to see if previously closed ones could be reopened.The spokesman said forces would be required to collect ethnicity data but could not say when this would happen.But shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Baroness Casey is right. Ten years after Rotherham, the girls who were raped and abused by these gangs are still being let down.‘Labour voted against a national inquiry and only gave in when they were forced to. Labour are still too scared to collect the data on ethnicity and religion that Baroness Casey says we need to understand what happened.Police whistle-blower Maggie Oliver said Baroness Casey was ‘absolutely right’.‘I share her anger and frustration,’ she said. ‘Frankly, I would go even further. This is not simply a lack of momentum. It is a shameful and continuing failure by successive governments to fulfil their most fundamental duty: to protect our children.’The former police detective accused ministers of a ‘dismissive’ attitude, adding: ‘One of the key recommendations was the mandatory collection of data. We need that. It’s not just about grooming gangs, it’s about understanding the landscape of sexual abuse in our country.‘I’m not saying we only collect data for Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs. It should be for everybody.’Baroness Casey said she had been ‘reassured’ by justice secretary Alex Norris that the government would act on her call to make it an automatic rape offence for an adult to have sex with a child aged under 16. Currently the provision only applies to those aged under 12 – a fact she described as ‘staggering’.But No 10 declined to say whether it would act on the issue.