A “once-in-a-lifetime” chance to protect children is at risk of being squandered by the UK government, a leading expert has warned.
Prof Alexis Jay, the former chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) said she was still pressing Labour ministers for a commitment to introduce her recommendations made at the conclusion of the seven-year inquiry in 2022.
Jay also warned that the failure to introduce mandatory reporting in England and Wales – making it an offence not to report allegations of child sexual abuse – could also be used as an excuse for lack of action in Scotland, where a similar inquiry, which has been running for nine years, has yet to conclude.
After hearing of repeated instances where disclosures by children and their families were not followed up, enabling often systemic abuse in children’s homes, boarding schools and religious institutions to continue, Jay’s inquiry recommended in 2022 a new criminal offence for people working in positions of trust who fail to report such allegations.
Jay told the Scottish parliament’s cross-party group on adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse on Tuesday evening that mandatory reporting was her “most important” recommendation and the UK was now “an outlier” in terms of international best practice, but a “watered-down” version proposed by the last Conservative government had been scrapped when the general election was called.
Since then, she has been lobbying new Labour ministers, including Jess Phillips. The party has been committed to mandatory reporting since 2014.
Jay said: “We have high expectations, but it remains to be seen whether these are realised or not. It’s been very, very disappointing to be in the position that we are.”
She said she hoped mandatory reporting would become law, “otherwise it’s been a waste of time and money – especially since [the inquiry] cost £180m – and it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fix so many of these things”.
Jay also warned that the lack of precedent in south of the border might negatively influence the outcome of the Scottish inquiry: “I wouldn’t like it to be used as any form of excuse for lack of action in Scotland. Scotland could be a leader in this, but they would need to be bold.”
Chairing the meeting, SNP MSP Fulton MacGregor said that while he believed the case for mandatory reporting had been made, “we aren’t there yet with any full commitment” from the Scottish government.
The inaction across the UK was met with anger and frustration from the adult survivors present at the meeting.
Giles Moffatt, who co-founded a support group for survivors of Edinburgh Academy abuse, said it was “absurd” to still be debating the issue: “We didn’t say anything when we were small because the system was designed against us. You can’t rely on kids to speak up, it’s taken us 40 years to speak up, so you need to intervene now.”
Critics of mandatory reporting suggest it could lead to over-reporting, placing a burden on already strained public services, might add to the distress of child victims and could put off families seeking help if they could not be confident their disclosures would be handled confidentially.
But Jay said that the reform was one supported by both survivors and international evidence.
• In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
