Keir Starmer has launched a sweeping national operation to investigate grooming gangs and a statutory inquiry into institutional failure, marking a significant reversal after months of pressure on Labour to act.

The National Crime Agency (NCA), the UK’s top investigative body, has been tasked with leading a coordinated national push to reopen historic group-based child sexual abuse cases and identify offenders who slipped through the cracks of previous police efforts.

The new operation will also aim to “put vile criminals behind bars” and bring justice to victims whose cases were not previously progressed through the justice system, according to officials.

More than 800 such cases have already been reopened since January. Officials say the aim now is to scale that up, combining forces across regional police, specialist exploitation teams and national units such as Operation Hydrant.

The crackdown will also involve the child sexual exploitation taskforce and the tackling organised exploitation programme, working in partnership to strengthen local investigations and improve police handling of abuse cases.

The move comes alongside the formal launch of a statutory public inquiry, with powers to compel witnesses and direct local investigations, after a rapid review by Louise Casey concluded a new probe was necessary.

The inquiry will scrutinise how institutions – including local councils, police forces and elected officials – failed vulnerable girls across the UK, with a specific focus on mishandled or ignored complaints.

It will be able to “compel local deep-dive investigations” into historical cases and demand answers where complaints of wrongdoing or cover-ups have been made, under powers granted by the 2005 Inquiries Act.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said survivors of the abuse had been ignored for too long and described the new inquiry as a means to get “truth and justice”.

“Not enough people listened to them then. That was wrong and unforgivable. We are changing that now,” she said.

The shift follows months of public and political pressure. Labour had previously resisted backing a national inquiry, arguing that years of investigations and reviews – including the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Prof Alexis Jay – had already exposed serious failings.

But Starmer appointed Lady Casey earlier this year to revisit the case for further action, and has now accepted all of her recommendations.

The inquiry will be chaired by a single figure and report independently, with the power to compel testimony and access to institutional records.

Speaking on Sunday, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, defended the change in position.

“The prime minister wanted to assure himself that everything possible was being done,” she told the BBC. “This is about justice – not grandstanding.”

But the U-turn has not gone unnoticed. The Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has welcomed the move but accused the Labour government of dragging its feet. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, called on Starmer to apologise for what she described as “six wasted months”.

The government had come under growing pressure to shift its stance after senior Conservatives, Farage, campaigners, some victims’ families – and even Elon Musk – said only a full statutory inquiry could deliver accountability.

Dan Carden, a Labour backbencher from the party’s Blue Labour wing, was the first to publicly break ranks, urging Starmer to “use the full power of the state”.

In January, Tory MPs tabled an amendment to force a vote on establishing such an inquiry – a move that was blocked when Labour joined most MPs in voting it down. At the time, Badenoch accused Labour of risking the perception of a “cover-up”.

Pressed on that, Reeves said Labour had always taken the issue seriously. “The Conservatives could have done another national inquiry, but they didn’t. We’ve been focused on implementing the recommendations of the Alexis Jay review and other reviews, because there’s recommendations that have just been sitting on the table.”

When asked whether Labour ministers would apologise to campaigners previously dismissed as alarmist, Reeves sidestepped the question. “The most important thing here is the victims. Not people’s hurt feelings,” she said.

Officials say the goal is not only to jail more offenders, but to challenge what ministers now describe as a longstanding culture of denial. It is also expected to “strengthen the commitment” to locally led inquiries, with the national chair empowered to oversee their direction.

The NCA-led crackdown will run in parallel, targeting known offenders, re-examining cases closed prematurely, and supporting forces to improve how child sexual exploitation is investigated.

Cooper added: “More than 800 grooming gang cases have already been identified by police after I asked them to look again at cases which had closed too early.

“Now we are asking the National Crime Agency to lead a major nationwide operation to track down more perpetrators and bring them to justice.”