By Pat Hurst
A police force that had to apologise to victims over decades of failure over grooming gangs is now investigating more than 1,000 suspects, a watchdog has said.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has made 鈥渟ignificant improvements鈥 in how it investigates group-based sexual exploitation of children, or grooming gangs, and other types of child sexual abuse offences, according to the report by His Majesty鈥檚 Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
The 76-page report looks at the current and ongoing way grooming gangs and other child sex offences are handled by the police, health bodies and the 10 councils in Greater Manchester.
It said police have live investigations into 鈥渕ulti-victim, multi-offender鈥 child sexual exploitation inquiries, involving 714 victims and survivors, and 1,099 suspects.
Michelle Skeer, His Majesty鈥檚 Inspector of Constabulary, said: 鈥淲e found that since 2019, when Greater Manchester Police started to review its non-recent child sexual exploitation investigations, the force has improved its understanding and approach to investigating allegations of child criminal and sexual exploitation.
鈥淚t is clear that the force has, for many years, been trying to provide a better service to those who have or may have experienced sexual exploitation.
鈥淏ut for some, trust and confidence in the police had been lost, and the force would not be able to rectify their experiences.
鈥淚t is vital that improvements are led by victims鈥 experiences, and if they do come forward, they are supported, protected and taken seriously.鈥
The report from inspectors found current Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson and other senior officers make sure all ranks understand child protection is a priority, it said, with he or deputy chief constables having personally spoken to every supervisor in the force about it.
The report states: 鈥淥fficers told us that, due to a cultural shift in Greater Manchester Police, investigating child sexual exploitation is now considered 鈥榚veryone鈥檚 business鈥.鈥
Grooming gangs also 鈥渇eature heavily鈥 in chief officer meetings, with performance monitored closely, the report said.
GMP is the only force in the country to set up a dedicated team to investigate grooming gangs, which it did in 2021, now called the Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team (CSE MIT), with around 100 staff and a ring-fenced budget.
The force also approaches child sexual exploitation as it does serious and organised crime gangs, using specialist tactics.
In October 2024, the force told inspectors there were 59 live multi-victim multi-offender child sexual exploitation investigations, of which 13 were being managed by the CSE MIT.
In these active investigations, there were 714 victims and survivors, and 1,099 suspects.
The force has also recorded demographic data, such as the age, sex and ethnicity of potential victims and suspects and uses 鈥渋ntelligence products鈥 to produce 鈥減roblem profiles鈥 to detail emerging threats and risks.
A recent report by Baroness Casey found a significant over-representation of Asian men who are suspects in grooming gangs in Greater Manchester, adding though authorities are in 鈥渄enial鈥 more needs to be done to understand why this is the case.
Inspectors also said the force is aware of 鈥渢raining gaps鈥 in some investigation teams and that some victims had been let down in the way their case was handled.
And the report also pointed to issues with data sharing, with local councils sometimes not willing to provide detectives with information, leading to 鈥渟ignificant delays in investigations鈥 into grooming gangs.
It cites problems with intelligence provided by Manchester City Council, which took months to arrive and 鈥渨as so heavily redacted that some pages contained only a few words,鈥 the report said.
Nevertheless, so far, the CSE MIT and the earlier grooming gang investigations have resulted in 42 convictions and more than 430 years imprisonment for offenders.
Investigations are ongoing and several more trials are scheduled.
The report adds: 鈥淭he force fully accepts that it made mistakes in the past.
鈥淚t has taken positive and effective steps to learn from these mistakes and improve how it investigates recent and non-recent child sexual exploitation.鈥
Responding to the report, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: 鈥淚 am confident in my view that the Greater Manchester system is in a demonstrably different and far stronger place today than it was when the failings happened.
鈥淭he effect of the assurance review I commissioned has been to usher in widespread culture change across all GM bodies. Never again will any child here be labelled or dismissed when they come forward to report concerns.鈥
Mr Burnham said he felt 鈥渧indicated鈥 by the Government鈥檚 decision to launch a national inquiry into grooming gangs, following an independent review by Baroness Louise Casey.
鈥淏ecause of the inevitable limitations of a local review like this, I was an early supporter of a national inquiry to bring accountability of decision-makers and Baroness Casey herself has said that there would not be a national inquiry were it not for the Greater Manchester review,鈥 he said.
鈥淲e can feel vindicated by that.
鈥淣ow the national inquiry is being put in place, we must allow victims the space and the right climate to have their voices heard, allow the actual truth to be established and accountability delivered.鈥