Specialist Therapeutic Support
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.
How was this assessed?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartWe accept that victims and survivors must be able to access effective systems for provision of therapeutic support. We will elicit views on the future of therapeutic support, including possible systemic changes to provision, through extensive engagement and consultation as part of our response to recommendation 19 on victim redress.
Progress Timeline
Funding CSA Centre training; expanding mental health support; developing holistic provision proposals. Enhanced proposal details to follow post-Spending Review. Home Office doubling funding for national services supporting adult survivors.
Published Evidence
Published assessments of implementation progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Check the source type badge to see whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
Professor Alexis Jay told Home Affairs Committee that £187m was spent on IICSA and "to date none of its final recommendations had been implemented." Called for "full implementation" saying "get it done."
View detailed findings
As of December 2024, none of the 20 final report recommendations had been implemented. The previous government's response was described by Prof Jay as "very weak and, at times, apparently disingenuous."