SCOTLAND
Scotsman
A SENIOR lawyer has been appointed to lead the public inquiry into the historical sexual abuse of children in residential care.
Susan O’Brien QC will be charged with looking into the treatment of children by institutions – including churches and independent boarding schools – going back decades.
Education secretary Angela Constance said the public inquiry – thought to be the biggest ever in Scotland – would be a “massive undertaking” which aimed to “shine a light into the dark corners of the past”.
She also announced plans to lift a three-year time bar which prevents civil actions being brought against abusers, allowing claims for damages in cases which took place after 1964.
And there will be £14.5 million of new funding to help provide support services for those who have been abused.
Ms O’Brien, who led the 2003 inquiry into failings that led to the death of baby Caleb Ness, will begin work on 1 July. Her inquiry is expected to last four years.
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