Category Archives: UK child abuse inquiry

Do public inquiries work? What comes after Grenfell and other UK disasters

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People involved in some of the UK’s highest-profile recent inquiries discuss what they achieved and what was left undone

After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: “We did not ask for this inquiry … It’s delayed the justice my family deserves.”

Although he thanked the inquiry for its findings, Choucair was devastated that the police had put the criminal investigation on the back burner until it had concluded. A decision on prosecutions is now not expected to happen until the end of 2026 at the earliest.

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Safeguarding in ‘crisis’ in Church of England, says archbishop of York

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Stephen Cottrell tells General Synod ‘mistakes have been made’, while sacked safeguarding board member says ‘we did our job too well’

The archbishop of York has said there is a “crisis of safeguarding” within the Church of England after its executive disbanded an independent body on abuse.

Stephen Cottrell told the C of E’s ruling body, the General Synod, on Sunday that “mistakes have been made” and that Jesus would be weeping at the events of recent weeks. “We recognise things have gone wrong,” he said. “This is a watershed moment for us. We can’t get this wrong again.”

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Child sexual abuse compensation scheme to be set up in England

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Move comes after inquiry found children had faced ‘limitless’ cruelty with complicity of institutions

The government is to launch a compensation scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse in England, the home secretary has said.

The scheme is in response to the findings of a seven-year inquiry that revealed failings by schools, local authorities and other institutions to protect and safeguard the children in their care.

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Reporting suspected sexual abuse to be mandatory for those working with children

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Law must be strengthened, says home secretary, so professionals like teachers and carers face ‘full force of law’ if they fail in their duty to protect

The home secretary is to spell out new requirements for people working with children in England to report signs or suspicions of sexual abuse.

The government is expected to set out details of plans in the coming days to tackle grooming gangs and better protect children.

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Child sexual abuse inquiry’s findings fall short for many victims

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Lawyers criticise ‘loopholes’ in call for mandatory reporting in England and Wales

Managing the seven-year inquiry into child sexual abuse to a set of conclusions will itself be seen as a triumph for Prof Alexis Jay. Its findings, however, have not gone far enough for many victims.

Lady Jay took over in November 2016 amid concerns the inquiry would have to be abandoned. She joined after three high-profile resignations of previous chairs over a three-year period.

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‘Like hell’: what former Lambeth children’s home residents told abuse inquiry

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The report into sexual abuse in London council’s children’s homes heard from many who experienced it

Hundreds of vulnerable children aged two to 19 suffered sexual abuse, violence and intimidation in children’s homes run by Lambeth council in south London over several decades from the late 1960s, a report has found.

Here are three accounts from some of those who gave evidence to the inquiry of their experiences in the care of Lambeth council.

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Inquiry calls for web pre-screening to stop UK child abuse ‘explosion’

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IICSA report calls for social media firms to be made to act, as police struggle to keep up

Social media companies should be forced to pre-screen all uploaded material to help law enforcement agencies cope with the “explosion” in online child sexual abuse in the UK, a critical report says.

The UK is identified as the third-biggest consumer in the world of the livestreaming of abuse in the 114-page study by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA).

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Archbishop: church ‘shabby and shambolic’ in abuse case

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C of E’s John Sentamu admits lack of support for victim but denies he made personal mistakes

The archbishop of York has admitted the Church of England’s treatment of a vicar who was raped as a teenager by another cleric was “shabby and shambolic” but denied he had made personal mistakes in the case.

John Sentamu told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse that more support should have been given by the church to the Rev Matthew Ineson when he told of his abuse. The archbishop accepted an earlier description by the bishop of Bath and Wells that Ineson’s treatment was “shabby and shambolic”.

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More than 1,000 claims of child sexual abuse in custody, inquiry reveals

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Chair of inquiry ‘deeply disturbed’ by allegations from young offender institutions

Children in custody are still not safe from sexual abuse after more than 1,000 attacks were alleged from 2009 to 2017, a statutory inquiry has found.

Prof Alexis Jay, the chairwoman of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, said on Thursday she was deeply disturbed by what the inquiry found as it published a report that described the scale of alleged abuse in young offender institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs) as “shockingly high”.

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