Details

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established to investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales. The focus was on what institutions knew about allegations of sexual abuse and how they responded. It was originally established as a non-statutory inquiry, but was reconstituted as a statutory inquiry on 12 March 2015.

It was set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal and claims of abuse by other prominent media and political figures. The Inquiry identified and demanded accountability for institutional failings and made practical recommendations to ensure that children are given the care and protection they need.

The Inquiry carried out 15 investigations and produced 19 investigation reports, 41 other reports and publications, as well as the Interim Report and Final Report.

The Chair of the Inquiry was Professor Alexis Jay, a Social Worker. She was the fourth Chair since the establishment of the non-statutory inquiry. The first Chair was Baroness Butler-Sloss, a retired judge. She was succeeded by Fiona Woolf, a corporate lawyer. The third Chair (first under the statutory inquiry) was Dame Lowell Goddard, a judge of the High Court in New Zealand.

The Process

The Inquiry was structured around three Core Projects: Investigations and public hearings, the Truth Project, and Research.

The investigative work underpinned the public hearings, and enabled the Inquiry to identify patterns of institutional failings (see Case Studies below). The Truth Project allowed victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to share their experiences in private sessions with the Inquiry.

The Inquiry’s work was organised into five broad work streams: Allegations of abuse by people of prominence in public life; Education and religion; Criminal Justice and law enforcement; Local authorities and voluntary organisations; and National and private service organisations.

The Inquiry referred 10,431 allegations of child sexual abuse to the police for investigation.

The Research Project involves a comprehensive literature review to bring together published work addressing institutional failures in child protection. Commissioned research is also being undertaken to better understand the scale of the problem and to identify recommendations for change.

The Truth Project aims to allow victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to share their experiences with the Inquiry. People taking part attend a private session will share their experiences with a member of the IICSA panel. Testimony from victims and survivors will not be tested, challenged, or contradicted. Information provided will be considered by the Inquiry in reaching their conclusions and making recommendations for the future.

The Public Hearings Project involves witnesses giving evidence under oath. Evidence provided during the Public Hearings is subject to cross examination. Case studies focusing on an institutions or individual will form the focus of public hearings. Evidence will be taken from institutional representatives and from victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

The Inquiry's work is managed into five broad work streams: Allegations of abuse by people of prominence in public life; Education and religion; Criminal Justice and law enforcement; Local authorities and voluntary organisations; and National and private service organisations.

Governing Legislation
Inquiries Act 2005

Inquiry Locations
England and Wales

Public Hearings
The Inquiry held 325 days of public hearings, the last in December 2020, hearing evidence from 725 witnesses in person. Witnesses gave evidence under oath, and the evidence provided was subject to cross examination. Case studies focusing on an institutions or individual formed the focus of public hearings. Evidence was taken from institutional representatives and from victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

Private Sessions
Private sessions formed part of the Truth Project. From July 2016 to November 2021, more than 6,200 victims and survivors of child sexual abuse came forward to share their accounts with members of the IICSA panel. Their testimony was not be tested, challenged, or contradicted. Information provided was central to the Inquiry in reaching its conclusions and making recommendations for the future: 5,862 agreed to be part of the research program and many put forward suggestions for change.

Case Studies

Of the 19 investigations carried out, 3 were thematic (Accountability and reparations; Effective leadership of child protection within institutions; Current child protection policies, practices and procedures in religious institutions). The remaining had institutional focus:

Religious institutions (Anglican and Catholic churches)

Political parties, government departments and agencies (Westminster, Lord Janner of Braunstone)

Local authorities (Residential schools; Custodial institutions; Cambridge House Boys’ Hostel, Knowl View School and other institutions where their placement was arranged or provided by Rochdale Borough Council; Children in the care of the Nottinghamshire Councils; children in the care of Lambeth Council)

Other institutional settings (Exploitation facilitated by the internet; Exploitation of children by organised networks; Children outside the United Kingdom)

Each investigation concludes with a report that sets out the Inquiry’s conclusions on institutional failings and identifies practical recommendations for change. 19 investigation reports have been published (https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports-recommendations/publications/investigation.html).

Written Submissions
Victims and survivors could choose to provide a written statement about their experiences. Almost 1,000 witnesses provided written statements to the Inquiry.

Research

The Research Project involved a comprehensive literature review to bring together published work addressing institutional failures in child protection, and also the collecting of fresh data, particularly from focus groups and from the interviews conducted with victims and survivors. 24 research and analysis reports were published which informed the Inquiry’s investigations and reports.

The Inquiry also held series of seminars from 2016 to 2018 that gathered information and views about eight important issues.

Witnesses
The Inquiry heard evidence from 725 witnesses in person. Of those, 94 witnesses gave evidence as victims and survivors.

Institutions
Local authorities; the police; the Crown Prosecution Service; the Immigration Service; the BBC; the armed forces; schools; hospitals; children's homes; churches, mosques and other religious organisations; regulators and other public and private institutions. It also examined allegations of child sexual abuse involving well known people, including people in the media, politics, and other aspects of public life.

Findings

The Commission emphasised the sheer scale of child sexual abuse and exploitation in England and Wales, in the past and continuing to the present day, in a wide range of institutions and settings, including schools, care homes, sports clubs, religious organizations, and the criminal justice system, and the extent to which State and non-State institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children. The true scale was found to be likely much higher than the numbers recorded.

From surveys, it was found that girls, disabled participants, those who lived in a care home, and those who had experienced childhood neglect, were much more likely to have experienced sexual abuse. The economic and social costs of child sexual abuse affect everyone: in monetary terms it is estimated to have cost society more than £10 billion. Society’s responses have become more child-focussed over recent decades, but public understanding of child sexual abuse remains incomplete, and "questions of empowerment, inclusion and hearing children’s voices are still not being fully addressed".

Across institutions, common themes relevant to child sexual abuse include:

• the pain and suffering caused to victims and survivors affecting many aspects of their lives
• the limitless deviousness and cruelty of perpetrators
• the placing of institutional reputation above the protection of children
• lack of child protection policies and procedures

Recommendations

The Inquiry made 107 recommendations: 20 in the Final Report, complementing the 87 recommendations contained in the previously published investigation.

Centrepiece recommendations are:

• the introduction of a statutory requirement of mandatory reporting, in that individuals in certain employments and professions, including teachers, healthcare workers, and social workers, as well as sports coaches and religious personnel, be required to report allegations of child sexual abuse, and that failure to do so could constitute a criminal offence.
• the establishment of a national redress scheme for England and for Wales
• the creation of a Child Protection Authority (CPA) in England and in Wales, with the powers to inspect any institution associated with children

Other recommendations in this report include:

• a single set of core data relating to child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation
• the creation of a cabinet-level Minister for Children
• a ban on the use of pain compliance techniques on children in custodial institutions
• amendment of the Children Act 1989 to give parity of legal protection to children in care
• registration of care staff in residential care, and staff in young offender institutions and secure training centres
• improved compliance with statutory duties to inform the Disclosure and Barring Service about individuals who may pose a risk of harm to children, and extended use of the barred list of people unsuitable for work with children
• removal of the three-year limitation period for personal injury claims brought by victims

Cost
Newspaper reports from October 2022 stated that the inquiry had cost £186.6 million.

Inquiry Panel

• Evans, Malcolm
• Frank, Ivor
• Sharpling, Drusilla