Assembly calls for formation of Exploitation Board in Mayor’s budget

In a budget related motion, the London Assembly has today called for the formation of an Exploitation Board, run by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), to develop best-practice interventions guided by insights from victims, and produce a new London-wide Exploitation Prevention Strategy.

In October 2025, the Metropolitan Police Service committed to review over 9,000 historic cases of child sex abuse and reinvestigate them for evidence and patterns of grooming gang behaviour.

The Assembly is also calling for the use of resources of the Met, the Greater London Authority (GLA) and MOPAC to support the National Grooming Gang Inquiry wherever possible.

Susan Hall AM, who proposed the motion, said:

"I am grateful to the Assembly for supporting my motion calling for an Exploitation Board to tackling grooming gangs in the capital. As the Met Police finish their reinvestigation of 9,000 historic grooming cases, we must put in place the means by which authorities can tackle and prevent future abuses. We owe it to the victims and survivors."

The full text of the motion is:

“This Assembly wishes to note that there is a significant gap in our understanding on the prevalence of grooming gang criminality across London, and that further work is urgently required to address this. 

The Assembly welcomes the commitment made by the Metropolitan Police Service in October 2025 to a review of over 9,000 historic cases of child sexual abuse, reinvestigating them for evidence and patterns of grooming gang behaviour. 

We must ensure, however, that the institutions across London which so badly failed victims improve the ways they work, both now and in the future. 

This Assembly, therefore, calls on the Mayor to: 

• Form an Exploitation Board run by MOPAC, with £1.5 million of funding in the 2026/27 Budget. With the Met, local councils, NHS representatives and child protection charities, the board should develop best-practice interventions guided by insights from victims, and produce a new London-wide Exploitation Prevention Strategy; 
• Use the resources of the Met, the GLA and MOPAC to support the National Grooming Gang Inquiry wherever possible; 
• Support a dedicated London module of the National Inquiry;
• Lobby the Home Secretary to begin progressing the National Inquiry as soon as possible, without any further delays.” 

The meeting can be viewed via webcast or YouTube.

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