Hounslow Council Leader Defends Grooming Gang Comments

Shantanu Rajawat denies discouraging survivors from speaking out

Cllr Shantanu Rajawat. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga

January 9, 2026

Hounslow Council’s Leader has stood by and further clarified his widely criticised comments about alleged grooming gangs in the borough, which he claims were taken “out of context”.

Councillor Shantanu Rajawat says Hounslow Council “can’t just assume” grooming gangs exist “because someone has said”, and said that allegations “need to be investigated and looked at in a careful manner”.

In September 2025, it was revealed that Hounslow Council had failed to disclose a three-year police investigation into a grooming gang despite being asked explicitly by the opposition if there had been concerns about such gangs in the borough. A Freedom of Information request by MyLondon then revealed there had, in fact, been a long-running investigation.

At the time, Councillor Rajawat called for “striking a balance” between being “publicly serious” about the issue and “creating panic” when asked about the claim he’d withheld information.

During a subsequent interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Cllr Rajawat was asked whether he stands by this response. He said, “Yeah, so I, without being critical, I think my comments were taken out of context.

“I think what I was trying to say is absolutely, we take [grooming gang allegations] seriously, and we work in a multi-agency setting there, but it is the police who lead, and they’re reviewing a lot of cases. You know, words matter and perception matters.

“What I’m not saying is that it’s rife in our communities. Where it exists, we have the correct processes in place to be able to find them out and address them. But we have to find them.

“We can’t just assume that they naturally do exist because someone has said. That needs to be investigated and looked at in a careful manner and there are processes in place. That’s what I was trying to say, though. I think my comments have been taken out of context in that respect.”

Cllr Rajawat’s original statement was questioned at the time by local politicians and social media users, with critics arguing that the stated fear of causing upset could be used as a way to silence victims. The LDRS asked Cllr Rajawat whether he thinks that a survivor would feel more or less confident to report their experience if they heard his comments about not wanting to cause panic.

He said, “So I think it’s more important that the process does exist. And actually, for someone that is potentially a survivor, having the knowledge that, yeah, that process exists and they can report it and it gets absolutely the importance that it requires and it’s investigated fully and thoroughly, to resolution, I think, is the most important thing.”

Responding to his latest comments, Cllr Peter Thompson, Leader of the Conservative Group on Hounslow Council, has said Cllr Rajawat is handling the situation in a defensive way. He said: “Survivors of grooming gangs are exceptionally brave and should be believed, which is why the comments attributed to the Labour leader are so disappointing.

“Any claims of this happening in our borough should be met with a serious and responsible approach and a full investigation. This issue is far too important to be handled in the defensive, borderline dismissive way in which the Labour leadership of Hounslow Council seem to be approaching it.

“Experience across the country shows that problems arise not because people ask questions, but because they fail to. When credible concerns are raised about grooming or sexual exploitation, council leaders should listen, not dismiss those concerns outright.

“This is not about blaming communities or making assumptions. It is about ensuring that safeguarding systems are alert, information is properly shared, and agencies are confident to act early if risks are identified. Residents and survivors are entitled to confidence that their concerns will always be taken seriously.”

In a separate article, Warda Mohamed, a key worker for care placements in Hounslow between 2015 and 2021, told MyLondon that she heard directly from 16-year-old girls who were allegedly taken to hotels by gangs to be preyed upon by predators. She claimed “nothing was really done” after she followed council procedure to report her concerns to the Emergency Duty Team.

Hounslow Council said in response at the time that it “requires specific details including names, dates of birth, case reference numbers, dates and times of report to confirm whether any such reports have been made”.

Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter