Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales was an inquiry examining how the country's institutions handled their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse. It was announced by the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, on 7 July 2014. It published its 19th and final report on 20 October 2022.
It was set up after investigations in 2012 and 2013 into the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal revealed widespread abuse, including claims of abuse stretching back over decades by prominent media and political figures, and inadequate safeguarding by institutions and organisations responsible for child welfare. Originally the inquiry was intended to be a Panel Inquiry supported by experts, similar to the Hillsborough Independent Panel. However, after strenuous objections related to the panel's scope and its independence from those being investigated, and the resignation of its first two intended chairs, the inquiry was reconstituted in February 2015 as a statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, giving it greatly increased powers to compel sworn testimony and to examine classified information.
The first two chairs appointed to the original panel inquiry were Baroness Butler-Sloss and Fiona Woolf. The reasons for their withdrawal in each case were objections related to their perceived closeness to individuals and establishments which would be investigated. There were also objections to the shape of the inquiry itself, concerning testimony, the scope of inquiry, and lack of ability to compel witnesses to testify. In December 2014, it was reported that Theresa May was reconsidering arrangements for the inquiry. On 4 February 2015, May announced that the inquiry would be chaired by Dame Lowell Goddard, a New Zealand High Court judge who had no ties to the UK bodies and persons likely to be investigated. The existing panel was disbanded, and the inquiry was given new powers as a statutory inquiry. Lowell Goddard resigned as chair in August 2016 and was replaced by Professor Alexis Jay.
The IICSA published 19 reports in all, with the last one coming on 20 October 2022, with many urgent recommendations. However, as of 2024 none of these recommendations had been implemented; the Ministry of Justice had closed a further consultation but published no response to the report.
Background
In 2012, entertainer Jimmy Savile, who had died with reputation intact in 2011, was identified by police as having been a prolific child sexual abuser, who had accessed and abused children in hospitals, schools and other institutions during the previous six decades. In the ensuing investigations, a number of prominent household names in media and politics, among others, were alleged to have been responsible for, and in some cases were convicted of, child sexual abuse. Calls were raised from 2012 onwards for a public inquiry into child sexual abuse, and to examine how such failings had been possible, and to what extent those responsible for these institutions had known of the abuse, or had cause to be aware.In June 2014 a cross-party group of seven MPs, co-ordinated by Tim Loughton and Zac Goldsmith, wrote to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, calling on her to set up an overarching investigation into a series of cases in the United Kingdom concerning allegations of historic child sex abuse within government and other institutions. Goldsmith said that "The Government should establish – and properly resource – an independent inquiry so that a line can be drawn, once and for all." Other MPs were quick to add their names to the call for an inquiry, and within three weeks more than 150 British MPs were backing the call for an inquiry.
An inquiry was set up in 2014, initially constituted as a panel. However, this led to public complaints on several grounds: that the panel's scope was too limited, and that those involved had past links to those persons and bodies known to have been sexual abusers or who might be investigated as part of the panel's work, and therefore that the panel's independence from the establishment was in question. Two chairs were appointed and resigned in 2014, both having had past links with possible subjects of the inquiry. The inquiry was, therefore, finally re-established as a statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005, in February 2015, and a New Zealand High Court judge appointed as chair, to address these concerns.
Panel Inquiry (2014–2015)
Remit and scope
The inquiry was announced by Theresa May, on 7 July 2014. She said that "In recent years we have seen appalling cases of organised and persistent child sex abuse that have exposed serious failings by public bodies and important institutions...That is why the government has established an independent panel of experts to consider whether these organisations have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse." She said that it was possible that it could become a full public inquiry with the power to subpoena witnesses.The initial announcement stated that the inquiry would examine the duty of care taken by British public bodies and other notable institutions in protecting children from sexual abuse. Individual cases of abuse would not be investigated by the inquiry, but Baroness Butler-Sloss said that she would be willing to hear of such cases. The institutions to be scrutinised included the police, the courts, the education system, the BBC and the NHS. The expert panel would also have the power to examine the behaviour of political parties, the security services and private companies. The panel was expected to report interim findings in advance of the general election in May 2015.
Chair of inquiry
On 8 July, it was announced that Baroness Butler-Sloss would chair the inquiry. She stated that she was "honoured to have been invited to lead this inquiry...We will begin this important work as soon as possible." The Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, Mark Sedwill, said that Butler-Sloss had promised to "leave no stone unturned", and that he believed her report would "be thorough and complete". The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, Tim Loughton MP, said that Butler-Sloss would "command great respect, great expertise and great knowledge which is absolutely what we need at the head of this inquiry".Criticisms were raised over the choice of Butler-Sloss as chair of the inquiry, as she was described as part of "the establishment" due to her membership of the House of Lords and her brother Michael Havers having been Attorney General of England and Wales during the 1980s. The Labour Member of Parliament Simon Danczuk said that "We don't want it look like an establishment inquiry—that would send out the wrong signal to the public." Former Solicitor-General Vera Baird said that Butler-Sloss was linked through her family "to the very establishment that this inquiry is being set up to look at... She is going to have to investigate the role played by her late brother." Questions were also raised about her report in 2011 into child abuse in the Church of England, with claims that she had been biased in favour of the church.
On 14 July, it was announced that Baroness Butler-Sloss was standing down from the inquiry, and that a new chair would be appointed. It was announced on 5 September that the new chair would be Fiona Woolf, a City solicitor then Lord Mayor of London, and that she would be assisted by Graham Wilmer, founder of the Lantern Project for abuse victims, and Barbara Hearn, former deputy chief executive of the National Children's Bureau. Alexis Jay, chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, would also be a member of the panel.
In October 2014, the chairing of the inquiry again became contentious after Fiona Woolf disclosed that she lived in the same street in London as Lord Brittan and had, amongst other connections with them, invited the Conservative peer and his wife to dinner on three occasions. Lord Brittan was Home Secretary in 1984 when ministers were handed a dossier on alleged high-profile paedophiles which later disappeared; Brittan insisted that the proper procedures had been followed. Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who had campaigned for the inquiry to be established, told the BBC he thought Woolf should resign, accusing the Home Office of a "total error of judgement”. He added: “One mistake is forgivable... to make the same mistake twice looks like they're out to protect Leon Brittan. I don't buy the view that you can't choose someone to chair this inquiry who is not connected to Leon Brittan and yet the government seem to have been insistent on choosing chairpeople who are very much establishment, very much connected to people involved". A second Labour MP, John Mann, also criticised the appointment, saying it was “totally impossible for Fiona Woolf to now properly chair child abuse inquiry” given that "Leon Brittan oversaw significant inquiries that vanished". However, Woolf told MPs that Brittan was "one of thousands of people" she knew and was not a "close associate"; the government said it continued to back her appointment. Home Secretary Theresa May also supported Woolf's appointment, saying: "Fiona Woolf has a long and distinguished career throughout which she has demonstrated the highest standards of integrity. I am confident that she will lead the work of the panel with authority, and that under her leadership the panel will get to the truth of these issues".
On 22 October 2014, the BBC reported that it had seen a judicial review application launched by a victim of historical child sexual abuse which challenged the choice of Fiona Woolf as the chair of the inquiry on the basis that she is not impartial, has no relevant expertise and may not have time to discharge her duties. However, the judicial review became unnecessary on 31 October 2014, when Woolf announced that she was resigning as chair of the inquiry. Her decision came on the day that victims and survivors of child abuse said that they were "unanimous" that she should quit, citing her social links with ex-Home Secretary Lord Brittan; their announcement came immediately after a meeting with Home Office officials. In a statement, Home Secretary Theresa May said that she had accepted Woolf's decision "with regret".
After the other Panel members were announced, the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, and the Children's Commissioner for Wales, Keith Towler, both criticised the fact that none of the Panel members had direct experience of child protection in Wales, a devolved matter. Jones said: "If this is to be a process for the whole of England and Wales together as two nations then there has to be a Welsh representative on the body."