In September, it was announced an independent investigation into grooming gangs was being expanded to include Birmingham.

West Midlands Police said they ‘welcome the opportunity to learn’ from a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

In September, it was announced an independent investigation into grooming gangs was being expanded to include Birmingham and “examine the sexual abuse and exploitation of children by grooming gangs”.

It will also examine whether victims and survivors were heard and supported, as well as what lessons must be learned to prevent future abuse and harm.

The issue was raised at a West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner accountability and governance board meeting on Tuesday (October 27).

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Wasim Ali asked what action was being taken to prepare for the inquiry.

Chief Constable Scott Green said: “We welcome the inquiry and the expansion into Birmingham because it’s an opportunity for us all to continue to learn and understand.

“It is a statutory obligation for us to fully engage and we will be. We’ve already taken steps to ensure we’ve got a full oversight of our compliance with it.

“We are, of course, mindful that this has an impact on victims, survivors and their families who are at the forefront of all the work we’ve done.

“We’ve taken steps already to circulate the details across all the teams to ensure that we are mandating the preservation of any documents and relevant material and that nothing that’s needed by the inquiry could fall outside of any of our guidelines and therefore be destroyed.

“Prior to the announcement of Birmingham being included, we already had a relevant ‘gold’ group chaired by Assistant chief constable Richard North, which was looking at the force’s border response to the inquiry in any event.

“But we also have links into other national operations around CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation), particularly Operation Hydrant and the NPCC Operation Beaconport.

“On August 10, the inquiry had already written to West Midlands Police with an initial request for evidence and we’ve already taken steps to provide that information so far.

“In preparation for the Birmingham part of it, we’ve contacted the solicitors to the inquiry to try to establish when the window of core participation status will be open. It’s not open yet.”

He added: “Whilst it’s Birmingham that’s been included so far, we operate across the whole of the West Midlands so it’s quite probable it could get expanded further across the whole of the West Midlands.

“We view it very much as an opportunity to learn if there have been any failings by West Midlands Police or by our partners, both in terms of addressing any failures with victims and survivors and to ensure we have the opportunity to change any practices that need to be changed with a focus on those at risk to date and those at risk in the future.”