Scottish Government update on grooming gangs inquiry to be set out 'before Christmas'

The Scottish Government’s “position” on a grooming inquiry will be stated before Christmas, the First Minister has said.

John Swinney denied that anybody was putting their head in the sand, but insisted that there was “no straightforward way through the issue”.

He was once again challenged by the Scottish Conservatives to agree to establish an inquiry at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.

“This is a very complex issue to which the Government is giving very detailed consideration,” Swinney told MSPs.

Answering media questions later on the likelihood of an inquiry, Swinney added: “We’ll set a position to Parliament before the Christmas recess in a statement which will reflect on where we’ve reached in our analysis.”

The First Minister said he, along with both the justice and education secretaries, was briefed by Police Scotland and the National Childhood Sexual Exploitation group on the prevalence of grooming gang issues in Scotland on Monday.

“The Government is looking in detail at all these questions – nobody is putting their head in the sand,” Swinney said.

However, he said there are “complexities” about the interaction between a potential national inquiry into grooming gangs and the Scottish child abuse inquiry that the Government has already established in law.

“There are no straightforward ways through this issue, but I assure Parliament that the Government is giving every serious consideration to this important issue,” the First Minister said.

Earlier this month, Mr Swinney confirmed he had received a letter from Taylor, which is not her real name, who said she and her friends were plied with alcohol and drugs and sexually abused by at least 10 men in Glasgow.

Taylor, who was 13 at the time, said in the letter she has been “deeply disappointed” by the First Minister and Police Scotland, accusing both of dismissing her complaints.

She called for a national inquiry.

The Scottish Conservatives have also been calling for a Scotland-wide inquiry and previously tried to add an amendment to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill in September to bring such an inquiry about, but it was rejected by the Government.

The legislation included major changes to Scotland’s legal system, including the removal of the not proven verdict, and came into force at the end of October.