Public Enquiry into Historic Cases of Child Abuse in Care

A public inquiry is to be held to examine historic cases of child abuse in care, the Scottish Government has announced.

Education Secretary Angela Constance said the probe was necessary to help fully understand what happened and in turn ensure a brighter future for every child''. The inquiry will have the power to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence, she confirmed. Ms Constance also pledged that where crimes are uncovered, thefull force of the law'' would be used to bring those responsible to justice.

The Scottish Government had been considering if a national inquiry into historic abuse cases was the correct way to help survivors. Announcing its decision, Ms Constance said: This Parliament must always be on the side of the victims of abuse. We must have the truth of what happened to them and how those organisations and individuals into whose care the children were entrusted failed them so catastrophically.And to get to that truth we will be establishing a national public inquiry into historical abuse of children in institutional care.'' She continued: To ensure justice is done I can tell this chamber that where crimes are exposed the full force of the law will be available to bring perpetrators to account.''

The Education Secretary said Scotland's top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, had been consulted and that measures will be put in place to ensure that the inquiry does not compromise or interfere with ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions''. She stated:As a society we have an opportunity to confront the mistakes of our past and to learn from them. It will not be easy but only by shining a light on the darkest recesses of our recent history will we fully understand the failures of the past, enabling us to prevent them happening again and ensure a brighter future for every child and young person in Scotland, today and in the future.''

Survivors will be consulted on both the remit of the inquiry and who should lead it, Ms Constance told MSPs at Holyrood. That decision was made after the two people appointed to chair a similar UK inquiry both stood down. UK Home Secretary Theresa May had ordered the probe as part of her commitment to uncover the truth about long-standing claims of child sex abuse by powerful figures.

But Baroness Butler-Sloss stood down as chairwoman in July amid questions over the role played by her late brother, Lord Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s. Her replacement Fiona Woolf, the then Lord Mayor of London, resigned in October following a barrage of criticism over her ''establishment links''. Ms Constance said: We have witnessed the pitfalls when an administration rushes to make decisions about an inquiry, without involving the people who will be most affected by it.We are not a Government that believes in haste at the expense of sense.'' She insisted: We will not make the same mistakes as others by rushing out with names before we have consulted with survivors and relevant organisations about the attributes of a chair or panel.'' This process should be completed by the end of April, Ms Constance said.

The Education Secretary confirmed that work by the Government to develop a support fund for abuse survives would continue, alongside plans for an appropriate commemoration. Various groups have also been invited to consider how the civil justice system can be made more accessible to abuse survivors, including the operation of the time bar'' system which means some cases cannot be brought forward if they happened too long ago.

Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, the lead officer for major crime and public protection at Police Scotland, said the force would fully co-operate with any inquiry which is convened''. He added:We have an enduring commitment to investigating child abuse whenever offences occurred. Our approach is absolutely centred on victims of abuse while ensuring those who commit such crimes are subject to rigorous investigation. Our work with a wide range of partners at national and local level is essential to providing the right framework in which to conduct investigations into such complex and challenging issues.Since April 2013, Police Scotland has worked to introduce even greater consistency and co-ordination to child abuse investigations and how we respond to serious sexual crime. In the new year, we will introduce a National Child Abuse Investigation Unit which will see specialist investigators working with local officers on the most serious cases. This will further heighten our capabilities in keeping people safe.''