Almost two decades after social workers in Oldham first flagged concerns about girls being groomed by older men, a national inquiry has been ordered into child sexual exploitation. The inquiry, covering England and Wales, will examine how authorities failed victims, with a particular focus on Oldham, where a pattern of abuse emerged as early as 2003.
In 2003, social workers noticed girls from local children's homes going missing repeatedly, often found in the same locations with the same men. By 2006, concerns grew that groups of offenders were targeting high school pupils. One victim, known as Child X, was abused by 300 men from age 12 and became addicted to crack cocaine and heroin.
Ruth Baldwin, then executive director for young people and families at Oldham council, said in 2006: 'We are not talking about teenage relationships. These are men in their 20s, 30s, and beyond.' The council launched Operation Messenger, a multi-agency taskforce that won a police award but was later found to have failed many girls.
A 2022 safeguarding review commissioned by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham concluded that casework by police and social care was 'generally very poor' and failed to initiate child protection procedures when children were at risk of significant harm. The review found no evidence of a cover-up to protect the town's Muslim vote, but noted that British Asian men formed a significant part of the caseload.
The national inquiry was triggered after a media storm in January 2025, when safeguarding minister Jess Phillips refused to fund a statutory inquiry into Oldham. Elon Musk criticised Phillips on X, sparking a chain of events that led to the government commissioning the national inquiry. The inquiry will examine 'how ethnicity, religion or culture played a role in responses'.
