Nationwide Child Abuse Probe Will Not Be Scaled Back, Promises Inquiry’s New Chairwoman

By Patrick Gysin
The Sun
September 9, 2016

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1753251/nationwide-child-abuse-probe-will-not-be-scaled-back-promises-inquirys-new-chairwoman/

THE new head of the nationwide child sex abuse inquiry has said the probe will not be scaled back.

Professor Alexis Jay, 67, admitted it was a “substantial challenge” but added she would not seek to revise nor reduce the terms of reference.

Professor Alexis Jay, the new head of the national child abuse inquiry, has promised not to scale back the probe

Last month, Dame Lowell Goddard, also 67, became the third chairwoman to quit the inquiry, which has been plagued with problems since it launched in 2014.

The former chairwoman told a judge this week that there should be a “complete review” into the probe, adding there was a problem with its scale and size.

One survivors’ group has said it may pull out of the inquiry because it does not believe it is “truly independent”, citing concerns about the involvement of the Home Office.

Alexis took over from Dame Lowell Goddard, who was the third chairwoman to quit the inquirry

In a letter to the inquiry’s core participants, Prof Jay wrote: “Its scale and scope are a substantial challenge, but the panel and I are absolutely committed to delivering results with pace, confidence and clarity.”

Prof Jay, who previously led an inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, added: “I would like to reassure any victim or survivor who is concerned that their experience may be excluded from our work that I have no intention of asking the Home Secretary to revise or reduce our terms of reference.

“I am confident that we can adapt our working methods to make our task more manageable and to progress with our work more quickly.”

The sweeping probe has been described as the most ambitious public inquiry ever in England and Wales.

It was due to take five years, but there have been suggestions it could run for as long as a decade.