A review of cases involving alleged sexual abuse gangs has found potential human error led to some police investigations being dropped.
Thousands of cases are set to be assessed as part of a National Crime Agency-led review to unearth failures to tackle grooming gangs.
So far, 1,273 files from 23 police forces have been referred to Operation Beaconport, of which 236 are being examined as a priority because they involve allegations of rape.
NCA deputy director Nigel Leary said initial reviews suggest there were mistakes in some of the investigations.
“Initial reviews have identified that in some cases where there has been a decision to take no further action (NFA), there were available lines of inquiry that could have been pursued,” he said.
“We’ve seen in those cases what appears to be potentially human error.
“We’ve seen in some cases that those investigations haven’t followed what we would characterise as proper investigative practice, actually, that would have contributed to the NFA decision.
“That includes, for example, lines of inquiry being identified but not being followed, victim accounts not being taken in a way that we would recognise as best practice, and suspects not being pursued or interviewed in the ways that we would anticipate.”
Operation Beaconport is reviewing cases between January 1 2010, and March 31 2025, with thousands expected to come under scrutiny.
The cost of the scheme is not yet known.
Operation Stovewood, the investigation into grooming gangs and other non-familial sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, has cost £89 million over 11 years.
“This is going to be a phenomenally large undertaking,” Mr Leary said.
“It will be the most comprehensive investigation of its type in UK history.
“We estimate that over the life cycle of the operation, it will involve thousands of officers from across policing.”
Officials are recording the ethnicity of suspects and victims as part of the review, and have found gaps in the existing data that they are trying to fill.
As they examine cases, they aim to flag any dangerous suspects and those who are at risk of fleeing the country.
Investigators have pledged to be “honest and transparent” with victims from the start, to avoid giving them unrealistic expectations.
Mr Leary said: “Not all matters we review, even where they’re reinvestigated, even where the victim or survivor says ‘I want that to be reinvestigated’, will produce a criminal justice outcome.
“They won’t for a variety of reasons.
“I think we can conduct those inquiries and those investigations in a way that is trauma-informed, that’s open and honest and transparent, that’s realistic, where we have good communication.
“My hope is that what we do is we build confidence in the process, even though the outcome in some cases will not, of course, be that which we might wish.”
Richard Fewkes, from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said while going after perpetrators is important, some victims will just want to feel listened to.
He said: “Justice means different things for different victims and survivors, and no one victim and survivor is the same.
“For some, justice is just being believed, perhaps for the first time, by someone in authority, being listened to.
“Or it might even be understanding that the review has taken place, a reinvestigation has taken place in an appropriate, focused, robust way, but nothing more can be done.
“For some, that is justice in their mind.”
Last month, the Metropolitan Police announced that they are reviewing 9,000 cases of child sexual exploitation.
It is expected that some of these will be referred to Operation Beaconport, which is looking at cases involving two or more suspects, more than one victim, contact offences, where the suspects are still alive, and that have not already been independently reviewed.
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