Home Affairs Committee says work of Jay Committee is vital

Confidence in ability to deliver its objectives ‘seriously diminished’

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has stated that the work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, now under the chairmanship of Professor Alexis Jay, is vital but confidence in its ability to deliver its objectives has been seriously diminished by the problems it has encountered.

In a short report the Committee also says:

• Steps need to be taken swiftly to rebuild confidence in the Inquiry and its work.
• The Inquiry's independence is vital to its work but that does not absolve it from transparency, accountability and scrutiny particularly given that it was a lack of transparency in institutions which gave rise to the Inquiry being established.
• Former Chair Dame Lowell Goddard's continued refusal to give oral evidence in Parliament is 'disgraceful' and 'falls well below the standards we would expect of any public servant'. The Committee will invoke its power to summon her before it if she should return to the UK. 
• The failure of the Home Secretary and Permanent Secretary to give the Committee full and early information about the reasons for Dame Lowell Goddard's resignation was 'regrettable'. 
• The Committee notes the tension identified by Dame Lowell Goddard between a judicial-style approach to the Inquiry's work and an inspectorate-style approach It suggests that in order to make the Inquiry's work more manageable and ultimately effective, the Inquiry could consider splitting its work into two strands: one pursuing forensic and legal investigations, to establish the truth about past institutional abuse, and the other looking at thematic and compliance issues around child protection and safeguarding procedures within institutions today. Both are vital and the report suggests they may require different approaches, skills and experience to deliver results.

To read the report, please click here.

24/11/16

 

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• Keywords:
• CSE
• sexual abuse