At Switalskis, we represent hundreds of survivors of child sexual exploitation (CSE) across the country. Many of their stories reveal not only the horror of the abuse they suffered, but the institutional failures that allowed it to continue—unchecked and unchallenged—for far too long.

Last week, our solicitor and Head of Child Abuse Compensation, David Greenwood, featured in The Yorkshire Post as he joined forces with Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore to issue a stark warning to the Government about the scale of the grooming crisis in Bradford.

Together, they met with Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips and senior Home Office officials to present a powerful new dossier suggesting that over 72,000 children may have been at risk of exploitation across the Bradford District between 1996 and today.

The dossier outlines years of systemic safeguarding failures by Bradford Council and partner agencies. It draws on survivor testimony, police and court records, and a 2018 safeguarding study which found more than 2,500 children at risk of CSE in just eight months. When applied across the nearly 30-year period, the scale of risk becomes undeniable.

Yet despite the evidence, leaders across Bradford - including the Council, the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Office, and senior figures in policing – have pushed back on an independent inquiry. This refusal mirrors the same patterns of denial once seen in Rotherham and Telford, where decades of abuse only came to light through independent scrutiny.

David Greenwood , who was instrumental in exposing the scale of abuse in Rotherham, is calling on the Home Office to intervene if local leaders in Bradford will not act. “We know from official statistics that around 72,000 girls have been affected by these offences since 1996 in the Bradford council area. The public will never understand the true scale and types of exploitation or the positive and negative responses of the council, police and NHS in Bradford until and extensive review similar to that conducted by Professor Alexis Jay in Rotherham is carried out." He told The Yorkshire Post . "If Bradford’s political leadership will not act, then the Government must. And if the current system prevents that from happening, it is the system that must be overruled, not the victims who want this inquiry. This should not be about politics. This should be about the protection of children in the here and now and securing justice for those who were failed over the past two decades.”

Robbie Moore MP also made clear that the current system for investigating grooming gangs is flawed. “It allows local inquiries to be voluntary and therefore hands the power to refuse these inquiries to the very authorities that victims say failed to protect them in the first place ” he said. “If Bradford’s leadership will not act, then the Government must. This is not about politics. It’s about the protection of children and securing justice for those failed over the last two decades.”

David, Robbie and the child abuse compensation team at Switalskis are urging the Home Office to ensure Bradford is included in its upcoming review of CSE hotspots, and that this includes an independent inquiry that cannot be vetoed by local political leaders.

At Switalskis, we will continue to stand alongside survivors and speak truth to power. This is reflected in a recent Court of Appeal case where three men convicted of child sexual offences in Keighley had their sentences increased after they were found to be unduly lenient. Read more about the conviction at the link here.

All three had previously been convicted of serious sexual offences against our client in the late 1990s, when she was just 14 and 15 years old. Read the full case study at the link here .

How we can support you

If you are a survivor of grooming or abuse and would like to speak to someone in confidence, our experienced legal team is here to support you. Contact David Greenwood directly at David.Greenwood@Switalskis.com .

For media requests, contact marketing@switalskis.com .