Group based child sexual abuse inquiry correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

1. Has the Scottish Government considered or ruled out a public inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland (including Operation Cerrar)?

2. Any correspondence with the UK Government on this issue.

Response

The Scottish Government announced a group based child sexual abuse inquiry on 25 February 2026. Information relating to the first part of your request is available from the Scottish Parliament website.

You can access the official report announcing this inquiry here: Meeting of the Parliament: 25/02/2026 | Scottish Parliament Website.

In addition, a press release was published on the 25th February which can be accessed here: Public Inquiry into group-based child sexual abuse - gov.scot

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

I enclose a copy of information you requested in relation to the second part of your request. An exemption under section 38(1) (b) of FOISA (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party, and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202600517269 - Information released - Document 1

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