Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2026 [Draft]
I will take Pauline McNeill’s points in turn, beginning with her question about expedited timescales. To confirm, the announcement that I have made today on an independent inquiry is not going to offset the timescales that are already set out by the inspectorate: those are set in relation to the work that will report in the summer. That will help to inform the terms of reference that Alexis Jay will then seek to develop, as an independent chair.
Pauline McNeill also mentioned that there has been one meeting of the review. I know that Alexis Jay was in front of the Education, Children and Young People Committee this morning. In her evidence, she stated that she has been meeting the inspectorates nearly every week and that she has been impressed by the co-operation and quality of work, which is being carried out at pace. The work started in November and the inspectorates have appropriately engaged with Alexis Jay on her knowledge of the subject matter. According to the evidence that was heard in Parliament earlier today, therefore, there have been a number of different engagements in relation to the work of the inspectorates. My view is that that work will complement the work of the independent inquiry, but it is for the independent chair to arrive at the terms of reference, working with Government in that regard.
There is an issue here in relation to independence, which goes back to the point that I made to Roz McCall. It is about survivors having faith in the process, and providing an independent inquiry will allow survivors to have that faith, which is hugely important. I have been keen to engage and reflect on some of those engagements, including with Ms Constance at the cross-party group very recently. We need to ensure that survivors have faith in the process.
I also announced today further work in relation to the truth project, which John O’Brien will lead on. That will also bring a new approach to survivor engagement and will, I believe, strengthen our approach in Scotland. It has worked very well in other parts of the United Kingdom, and I am very pleased that John O’Brien has agreed to lead that piece of work with us. It will complement the work of the independent inquiry and, more broadly, the work of the inspectorates, which will continue in parallel to the inquiry.