Hansard

Safeguarding Scotland’s children from harm is one of the Scottish Government’s utmost responsibilities. Since my previous parliamentary statement in December, I have spent further time engaging directly with survivors of child sexual abuse. Their testimonies are shocking in the extreme. They tell the story of a system that far too often does not believe young people. Those stories, each of which is unique, are bound by a common thread of power being used to abuse, coerce and control. Survivors have rightly called for meaningful change. They want decisive action to uncover, disrupt and, ultimately, prevent these horrendous crimes from ever happening in the first instance.

The Scottish child abuse inquiry has taken extensive evidence and has published a number of reports on the abhorrent historical abuse of children. I strongly welcome Lady Smith’s work in phase 10, and the confirmation that the inquiry will be able to hear and act on evidence relating to grooming and group-based child sexual abuse where that falls within the inquiry’s terms of reference. That work remains vitally important, and I commend the inquiry for its approach.

I welcome the updates that were provided to the Education, Children and Young People Committee this morning on the completion of the first phase of Police Scotland’s review work and the on-going delivery of the national review. Some commentary has suggested that the findings of the national review will be available only once the review is fully complete. I want to be clear with Parliament and survivors today that that is not the case. Phase 1 of the national review will report to ministers by this summer.

The work of the national review is imperative in providing assurance that improvements will be made at the local level. It will also be instructive, given the challenges of reporting and recording of child sexual abuse at the local level. I reiterate that, if any harm or risk to a young person is identified at any point during the national review, that will immediately be escalated through the appropriate channels, including to Police Scotland, as required.

I remind Parliament that our local authorities already have statutory responsibilities to identify, report and take action to protect any child who is at risk of harm. As a society, we all have a responsibility to protect our children. However, as I made clear in December, there is limited evidence at the current time on the nature and extent of group-based child sexual abuse in Scotland. It is therefore imperative that that evidence base is established at pace to clarify next steps and to lessen prolonged suffering for the victims of these crimes.

I know that members and survivors of child sexual abuse want to see accountability and improvements as quickly as possible, and that sense of urgency is shared by Government.

In December, I made it clear that the Government would keep the decision on whether to establish an inquiry into group-based child sexual abuse under review. I committed to return to the Parliament in February with a more substantive update. Accordingly, I have considered the issue carefully, looked at the available evidence—which continues to evolve—and, importantly, listened to the voices of survivors and experts.

To that end, I can confirm to the Parliament today that I intend to establish a statutory public inquiry, under the Inquiries Act 2005. The inquiry will consider directly Scotland’s response to group‑based child sexual abuse and exploitation. I have asked Professor Alexis Jay to lead the inquiry, and I am pleased to confirm that she has agreed to do so.

Professor Jay has unrivalled experience of chairing both statutory and non-statutory inquiries that relate to child sexual abuse and exploitation. She will have the authority to identify and take forward any additional or accelerated areas of work as she considers necessary within the scope of finalised terms of reference, which will now be developed with her input. She will draw on her experience of leading the independent inquiry in Rotherham and the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales, as well as her vast experience in other areas of child protection, which includes over 30 years of professional experience in social work.

In order to maintain the strict independence of this work and the inquiry, Professor Jay will immediately cease her role providing advice to the national review. While the inquiry’s terms of reference are being developed, Professor Jay will remain chair of the national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group, and those arrangements will be reviewed.

However, I am of the view that the announcement of an independent public inquiry is critical to maintaining public confidence in the work that I announced in December and to encouraging openness and participation from victims and survivors. This inquiry will be distinct from the Scottish child abuse inquiry: it will focus specifically on group-based child abuse and exploitation, whereas the Scottish child abuse inquiry, despite looking at those issues, has a far broader remit. The new inquiry will focus on the potential prevalence of group‑based abuse now and in the more recent past, whether it has been brought forward by survivors or in relation to the findings from the national review or Police Scotland’s review of case files.

The Scottish child abuse inquiry will remain critical. As I have previously made clear to the Parliament, the existing inquiry has taken, and continues to take, evidence in relation to group-based harm and sexual exploitation of children in care, wherever the abuse took place. In due course, it will also make recommendations about our system of protection for children in care, based on all the evidence that it has heard.

This morning, alongside the Deputy First Minister, I met Lady Smith to inform her of the decision to announce the new inquiry. I have confirmed that the new inquiry will not duplicate the on-going valuable work of the Scottish child abuse inquiry in this area.

Taking the decision to establish an inquiry now enables us to make progress in parallel with the on-going national review and the Police Scotland review of cases. Establishing the inquiry will also provide additional assurance to survivors that there will be independent scrutiny of the national review’s findings. Although I, Professor Jay and the inspectorates have confidence in the robustness of those processes, which are very much operationally independent, that additional layer of independence will provide survivors with further assurance and confidence.

For many survivors, distrust is rooted in lived experience of past failures to protect children from organisations, address allegations or take concerns seriously. There is a perception that institutions act defensively in order to protect organisational reputations rather than prioritise truth seeking or accountability. That has been a consistent theme in my discussions with survivors. All too often, when victims spoke up, institutions already knew, and institutions that had the powers to act—and importantly, the powers to help—did not act to prevent abuse from occurring. Therefore, the inquiry will have the fullest investigatory powers that it requires. Along with the appointment of Professor Alexis Jay as chair, I hope that that provides survivors and the public with confidence in the process and its necessary independence.

In December, survivor engagement was a key theme in my update to the Parliament. Getting that right is imperative. Therefore, I am pleased to confirm to the Parliament that John O’Brien, who led the truth project in England and Wales, has agreed to lead the development and delivery of a truth project in Scotland. To support our work, John O’Brien will bring a wealth of experience and expertise in delivering a successful project that has already supported thousands of survivors in England and Wales. Last week, I met Mr O’Brien to better understand the approach that he built to support the independent inquiry on child sexual abuse in England and Wales.

Our approach in Scotland will seek to mirror that work. We will ensure that we hear from survivors and allow them the opportunity to share their experiences, which will inform policy change. Importantly, we will provide access to support. The national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group will also consider how it can engage survivors in its work.

Given the scale and costs to the public purse of public inquiries, the Government has not taken this step lightly. Nonetheless, I consider the establishment of a public inquiry to now be essential. Although it will be for the chair to consider such matters, I know from our discussions thus far that Professor Jay wants the inquiry to be carried out at pace.

The Government is determined to act decisively to protect children from the horrendous harm of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The work of the national review and Police Scotland’s on-going review of cases of group-based abuse will ensure that any improvements that must be made to practice or action to bring perpetrators to justice are made as quickly as possible.

The truth project will ensure that the voice of survivors is central to our collective efforts, so that every action is informed by their experiences and brings about the changes that they have told me must be made. John O’Brien’s involvement and his particular expertise and experience of delivering a successful project to support the one that we will establish in Scotland will be essential. The statutory inquiry that will be chaired by Professor Alexis Jay will contribute to an even more comprehensive response.

It is imperative that all organisations with responsibilities for safeguarding use their powers to ensure that our children are protected. We know that that has not always been the case in the past and that, as a result, children and young people have been let down and lives have been ruined.

The announcement of an independent public inquiry will not cure all that has come before, but it is a statement of intent from the Government that we will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice for survivors of child sexual abuse. Indeed, those brave survivors should expect nothing less.