Guidance

Consultation privacy notice: draft terms of reference

Published 10 February 2026

General information

The statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs (the Inquiry) is being set up to address systemic failures in how institutions responded to child sexual exploitation and abuse committed by grooming gangs which has caused serious and long-lasting harm to victims and survivors.

The government established the Inquiry in response to recommendation two of Baroness Louise Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025.

On 9 December 2025, the Home Secretary confirmed to Parliament that Baroness Anne Longfield CBE will chair the Inquiry, alongside panel members Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE.

The Inquiry will begin its formal work once the Terms of Reference (ToR) have been published; these will be agreed with government by the end of March 2026. The Inquiry is expected to run for up to three years. 

Consultation on the draft terms of reference

The Inquiry has launched a time-limited public consultation on its draft terms of reference (ToR), which must be finalised by 31 March 2026. The Inquiry will formally begin its work once the final ToR have been published.

The consultation is focused solely on the draft ToR and is not seeking views at this stage on the Inquiry’s scope, locations, or future engagement activities. The Inquiry is particularly keen to hear from people with lived experience, as well as professionals with relevant expertise, to help ensure the ToR are robust and effective.

This privacy notice covers activity undertaken as part of the draft ToR consultation only. A Privacy Notice to cover the wider activity of the Inquiry will be developed and published once the Inquiry has been formally established.

Controller’s contact details

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs is the data controller for any personal information processed as part of the draft ToR consultation.

For general enquiries please email: contactus@grooming-gangs.independent-inquiry.uk. For press or media enquiries please email: pressqueries@grooming-gangs.independent-inquiry.uk

If you have any questions about anything in this document, would like to exercise your data protection rights or think your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you can contact: contactus@grooming-gangs.independent-inquiry.uk

Privacy notice

This privacy notice tells you what you can expect the Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs (‘the Inquiry’) to do with your personal information we process as part of the draft ToR consultation.

We’ll tell you:

• what personal information will be collected as part of the draft ToR consultation, and why
• our legal basis for processing your personal information
• where we keep your personal information
• how long we will keep your information
• your rights relating to the personal information we hold
• how we will share your information
• your right to complain

What personal data will be collected, and why

As part of the draft ToR consultation, the Inquiry will process personal data provided by:

• any individuals or organisations who submit responses to the online consultation survey
• any individuals or organisations who participate in face-to-face and online consultation events; and
• persons who work as a member of the Inquiry Team, as an advisor to the Inquiry or in another support role, or provide the Inquiry with goods or other services

Online consultation survey

Those responding, either as individuals or on behalf of organisations, to the online consultation survey have been asked not to provide any identifying or personal information (such as names, addresses, email addresses etc.) in their responses. Any information shared by respondents will be held and processed by the Inquiry.     Therefore, we are not asking for any information that could directly identify a person.

Personal data provided to the Inquiry in response to the online consultation may include:

• demographic data submitted by a respondent: responses to any questions in the demographics section of the survey selected from the available high level category options in respect of the respondent’s background, geographic region, age range, religious grouping, race or ethnicity grouping, whether or not suffering from a long-term illness or disability, and/or their selected status in respect of sexual identity, orientation or gender grouping
• where a response by a respondent is on behalf of an organisation: responses to any questions in the demographics section of the survey selected from the available high level category options in respect of that organisation’s sector, description type and size, and location
• responses to the questions raised as part of the consultation for views on the ToR; and
• connectivity data: data collected from accessing and completing the survey online, such as from cookies, use of IP address and similar

Face-to-face and online consultation engagement events

Based on information provided to the Inquiry as part of the consultation engagement events, personal data may include:

• contact and other personal data about those that are participating in the engagement events, including victims and survivors of relevant grooming gangs

The organisation and facilitation of these events will be managed by third sector organisation and charities who have agreed to assist the Inquiry. These organisations will manage contact with those attending the events and will only share personal data (e.g. names, email addresses) of attendees with the Inquiry Team, where necessary.

Our legal basis for processing your personal information

Our legal basis for processing your personal data as part of our ToR consultation is that it is necessary for the performance of a public task or exercise of an official duty (Article 6(1)(e) UK GDPR). In this case, the official duty is that of the Chair to establish ToR for the Inquiry.

Our legal basis for processing any sensitive personal data (also known as special category data) such as racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, or health data, is that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment, or the exercise of a function of a Minister or the Crown (para 6, schedule 1, Data Protection ToR for the Inquiry.

Where we keep your personal information

We keep your information secure and only share it with those who have a need to see it. All personal information we receive is handled fairly and lawfully in line with data protection legislation. 

Your personal data is stored in systems owned by our data processors and not transferred outside of the UK. 

How long we keep your personal information

All personal details provided to us by those wishing to share their views through the draft ToR consultation, either through the online survey or the engagement events, will be securely destroyed at the close of the Inquiry.  

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights over your personal data. The rights available to you depend on our reason for processing your information.

• Your right of access: You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. This right applies for all processing. There are some exemptions, which means we may not always be able to provide all the information we process.

• Your right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate or to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies.

• Your right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances. The Inquiry is required to retain some information but will remove as much information as possible following an erasure request.

• Your right to restrict processing: If you have concerns about the accuracy of your information, or about how it is being used, you have the right to restrict the processing until your concerns have been resolved.

• Your right to object to processing: You have the right to object to processing when we are processing your personal information to perform our public task. If you wish to object to processing, the Inquiry will assess whether the requirements of the public task outweigh the grounds of the objection and the DPO will inform you of the outcome of the assessment.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. We have one month to respond to you.

Please contact contactus@grooming-gangs.independent-inquiry.uk if you wish to make a request.

Sharing your information

The Inquiry has a clear safeguarding responsibility to take reasonable steps to keep all members of the public safe and to respond appropriately to any concerns that arise in connection with its work. These steps may include passing information to authorities such as the police or social care. It will only do so when the Inquiry has cause to believe that a person is at risk of serious or significant harm and/or a crime has been or is being committed.

The purpose of the inquiry is not to directly prosecute individuals or make findings of civil or criminal liability.

The Inquiry is working alongside the national police operation, Operation Beaconport. Information relating to safeguarding concerns and allegations of criminal activity received by the inquiry may be passed onto Operation Beaconport if relevant to the work of the Operation.

Your right to complain

The Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs works hard to protect your information and maintain high standards when it comes to processing your personal information. If you have any queries or concerns, please contact us at contactus@grooming-gangs.independent-inquiry.uk.

If you remain concerned about how your personal information is being processed, you can make a complaint to the ICO as the UK supervisory authority.

The ICO can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113