Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government and the Welsh Government improve data collected by children's social care and criminal justice agencies concerning child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation by the introduction of one single core data set covering both England and Wales. In order to facilitate this, these agencies should produce consistent and compatible data about child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation which includes: the characteristics of victims and alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse, including age, sex and ethnicity; factors that make victims more vulnerable to child sexual abuse or exploitation; and the settings and contexts in which child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation occur. Data concerning child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation should be compiled and published on a regular basis. This should be capable of being collated nationally as well as at regional or local levels.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government establishes a Child Protection Authority for England and the Welsh Government establishes a Child Protection Authority for Wales. Each Authority's purpose should be to: improve practice in child protection; provide advice and make recommendations to government in relation to child protection policy and reform to improve child protection; and inspect institutions and settings as it considers necessary and proportionate. The Child Protection Authorities in England and in Wales should also monitor the implementation of the Inquiry's recommendations.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government and the Welsh Government commission regular programmes of activity to increase public awareness about child sexual abuse and the action to take if child sexual abuse is happening or suspected in England and in Wales. The programmes should: challenge myths and stereotypes about child sexual abuse; make maximum use of different approaches including, but not limited to, public information campaigns, the use of positive role models and creative media, such as television drama; and be supported by continuous evaluation to measure their impact.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government amends the Children Act 1989 so that, in any case where a court is satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that a child who is in the care of a local authority is experiencing or is at risk of experiencing significant harm, on an application by or for that child, the court may: prohibit a local authority from taking any act (or proposed act) which it otherwise would be entitled to take in exercising its parental responsibility for the child; or give directions for the purpose of determining a specific question which has arisen, or which may arise, in connection with any aspect of the local authority's exercise of parental responsibility for a child.

The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its Interim Report, dated April 2018) that the UK government introduces arrangements for the registration of staff working in care roles in children's homes, including secure children's homes. Registration should be with an independent body charged with setting and maintaining standards of training, conduct and continuing professional development, and with the power to enforce these through fitness to practise procedures.

The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its Sexual Abuse of Children in Custodial Institutions: 2009-2017 Investigation Report, dated February 2019) that the UK government introduces arrangements for the professional registration of staff in roles responsible for the care of children in young offender institutions and secure training centres.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government enables any person engaging an individual to work or volunteer with children on a frequent basis to check whether or not they have been barred by the Disclosure and Barring Service from working with children. These arrangements should also apply where the role is undertaken on a supervised basis.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government takes steps to improve compliance by regulated activity providers with their statutory duty to refer concerns about the suitability of individuals to work with children to the Disclosure and Barring Service, including: all relevant regulators and inspectorates include compliance with the statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service in their assessment of safeguarding procedures during inspections; the National Police Chiefs' Council works with relevant regulators and inspectorates to ensure that there are clear arrangements in place to refer breaches of the duty to refer to the police for criminal investigation; and an information-sharing protocol is put in place between the Disclosure and Barring Service and relevant regulators and inspectorates.

The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its Children Outside the United Kingdom Phase 2 Investigation Report, dated January 2020) that the UK government introduces legislation permitting the Disclosure and Barring Service to provide enhanced certificates with barred list checks to citizens and residents of England and Wales applying for: work or volunteering with UK-based organisations, where the recruitment decision is taken outside the UK; or work or volunteering with organisations based outside the UK, in each case where the work or volunteering would be a regulated activity if in England and Wales.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government and Welsh Government introduce legislation which places certain individuals - 'mandated reporters' - under a statutory duty to report child sexual abuse where they: receive a disclosure of child sexual abuse from a child or perpetrator; or witness a child being sexually abused; or observe recognised indicators of child sexual abuse. The following persons should be designated 'mandated reporters': any person working in regulated activity in relation to children (under the Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, as amended); any person working in a position of trust (as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, as amended); and police officers. For the purposes of mandatory reporting, 'child sexual abuse' should be interpreted as any act that would be an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 where the alleged victim is a child under the age of 18. Where the child is aged between 13 and under 16 years old, a report need not be made where the mandated reporter reasonably believes that: the relationship between the parties is consensual and not intimidatory, exploitative or coercive; and the child has not been harmed and is not at risk of being harmed; and there is no material difference in capacity or maturity between the parties engaged in the sexual activity concerned, and there is a difference in age of no more than three years. These exceptions should not, however, apply where the alleged perpetrator is in a position of trust within the meaning of the 2003 Act. Where the child is under the age of 13, a report must always be made. Reports should be made to either local authority children's social care or the police as soon as is practicable. It should be a criminal offence for mandated reporters to fail to report child sexual abuse where they: are in receipt of a disclosure of child sexual abuse from a child or perpetrator; or witness a child being sexually abused.

The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its Interim Report, dated April 2018) that the UK government commissions a joint inspection of compliance with the Victims' Code in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, to be undertaken by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, His Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government makes the necessary changes to legislation in order to ensure: the removal of the three-year limitation period for personal injury claims brought by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in respect of their abuse; and the express protection of the right to a fair trial, with the burden falling on defendants to show that a fair trial is not possible. These provisions should apply whether or not the current three-year period has already started to run or has expired, except where claims have been: dismissed by a court; or settled by agreement. They should, however, only apply to claims brought by victims and survivors, not claims brought on behalf of victims and survivors' estates.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government and the Welsh Government introduce a national guarantee that child victims of sexual abuse will be offered specialist and accredited therapeutic support. There should be sufficient supply of these services so that children in all parts of England and Wales can access support in a timely way. These services should be fully funded. Responsibility for commissioning these services should be given to local authorities. There must be no eligibility criteria for children to access these specialist therapeutic services other than having been a victim of child sexual abuse.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government directs the Information Commissioner's Office to introduce a code of practice on retention of and access to records known to relate to child sexual abuse. The retention period for records known to relate to allegations or cases of child sexual abuse should be 75 years with appropriate review periods. The code should set out that institutions should have: retention policies that reflect the importance of such records to victims and survivors, and that they may take decades to seek to access such records; clear and accessible procedures for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to access such records; policies, procedures and training for staff responding to requests to ensure that they recognise the long-term impact of child sexual abuse and engage with the applicant with empathy.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government changes the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to: include other forms of child sexual abuse, including online-facilitated sexual abuse; amend the rule on unspent convictions so that applicants with unspent convictions are not automatically excluded where offences are likely to be linked to the circumstances of their sexual abuse as a child; and increase the time limit for child sexual abuse applications so that applicants have seven years to apply from (a) the date the offence was reported to the police or (b) the age of 18, where the offence was reported whilst the victim was a child. In either circumstance, the claims officer's discretion to extend the time limit remains.

The Inquiry recommends that the UK government establishes a single redress scheme in England and Wales, taking into account devolved responsibilities. The detailed rules of, and funding for, this redress scheme should reflect the following core elements. Eligibility: Victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation that occurred in England and in Wales should be eligible to apply. Applicants must have experienced child sexual abuse and exploitation where there is a clear connection to State or non-State institutions in England and Wales. The scheme should be open to any victim of child sexual abuse that took place prior to its establishment. The scheme should deduct any previous award from any payment under the scheme. Applicants who have previously brought civil claims which have been rejected by the court should be excluded from applying to the scheme, save where their cases have been rejected due to limitation. Redress provided: The scheme should provide payments to eligible applicants through a two-tier system, based on a fixed flat-rate recognition payment, with the option to apply for a second-tier payment. Process: The application process must be accessible and straightforward, and be sensitive to the needs and vulnerabilities of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. There should be special provisions to accelerate awards for older or terminally ill applicants. Duration: The scheme should run for five years. Funding: The scheme should be funded by central and local government, in accordance with devolved funding principles, with voluntary contributions sought from non-State institutions.

The Inquiry recommends (as originally stated in its The Internet Investigation Report, dated March 2020) that the UK government introduces legislation requiring providers of online services and social media platforms to implement more stringent age verification measures.