Historical Child Abuse Inquiry "Could Lose Support of Survivors"

STV
January 7, 2016

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/1338286-historical-child-abuse-inquiry-could-lose-support-of-survivors/

Holyrood: Incas claims meeting requests have been turned down.

A group of people who were abused as children are threatening to withdraw cooperation from the public inquiry into child abuse in Scottish institutions.

The group, In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas), says repeated requests for meetings with the minister who ordered the inquiry have been turned down.

But the Scottish Government claims abuse survivors have had "unprecedented levels of access" to ministers and civil servants.

Incas spent years campaigning for before education secretary Angela Constance ordered the Historical Child Abuse Inquiry in December 2014. The group, which represents hundreds of people, who were abused in care, now says it has concerns over the way the inquiry is developing.

After a meeting with Ms Constance in May 2015, Incas says they have not been granted an audience with the minister since. The group has now accused her of treating them with "contempt and indifference."

Alan Draper, Incas' parliamentary liason officer, said: "Since then, if our understanding of the position is correct, the inquiry team, appointed by government, have questioned the need for representation for survivors, and seem to consider the role of survivors to extend only to the giving of evidence.

"We are moving away from a 'survivor centred' inquiry to one where survivors are merely witnesses to be heard and then excused.

"Given the undertakings that survivors received from Angela Constance personally, it is imperative that she meet with Incas to discuss her failure to deliver."

A spokesperson for the inquiry said: "The Historical Child Abuse Inquiry continues to engage with a range of groups in order to understand their views on how the inquiry should proceed with its work.

"We are developing and will shortly finalise procedures that will enable us to take and assess the evidence received from survivors and other interested parties. These procedures will include how to apply for funding for legal representation.

"As the chair indicated last month, interested parties will have until January 31 to make their views known."