SNP ‘letting down victim of abuse’ with delays to £115m redress scheme, says survivor’s husband

GLASGOW (UNITED KINGDOM)
Scottish Daily Express [Glasgow, Scotland]

September 3, 2022

By John Glover

Andrew Peacher has blasted deputy first minister John Swinney as he called on the Scottish Government to ‘end victim’s suffering’ and start paying out compensation

The SNP Government is letting down victims of historic child abuse with delays to the £115million redress scheme, a survivor’s husband has said.

Andrew Peacher wrote to the Scottish Daily Express to detail how “unfair” it was for his wife Joanne, who was a victim of child abuse, saying the delays to her case have left her “hanging on like a thread”.

Joanne Peacher, 53, took part in the Historic Child Abuse Inquiry describing how she was raped by a priest and sexually abused by a female care worker when she was a young child in one of the orphanages run by the Sisters of Nazareth, the Roman Catholic order.

In her witness statement, Mrs Peacher, who has mild learning disabilities, told the inquiry – chaired by judge Lady Smith – of her ordeal at the orphanage in Cardonald, Glasgow.

She said: “For the last few years, I’ve been getting flashbacks. I don’t like my husband touching me. If I go to bed, I wake up screaming. When I have flashbacks, I panic.”

Her husband explained that she was hoping the compensation from the government along with treatment she has been offered and an apology from the government would mark the “end to victim’s sufferings”.

Announcing the scheme in December last year, Deputy First Minister John Swinney boasted of “confronting the scale and horror of the abuse Scotland’s most vulnerable children [had] suffered”.

However, the Scottish Government has admitted that staff shortages have resulted in delays in processing the claims. The scheme has had more than 1,500 applications with only 189 of those “passed to Redress Scotland for consideration” and 136 having had an “initial determination made”.

All those eligible are able to claim from £10,000 to £100,000. However, the Scottish Daily Express has learned that less than £5,000 has so far been paid out in total.

Mr Peacher said: “Joanne on a near daily basis until recently used to take overdoses to block out the pain. She still is very damaged and needs regular support from the NHS.

“I don’t know why the treatment and the apology wasn’t offered first then this would help my wife cope with waiting for the payment. The survivor community feels let down by the SNP’s John Swinney as they made a great scheme but didn’t have enough staff to implement the scheme.

“Its unfair that survivors have to suffer this way. Very vulnerable adults like my wife should have been given priority like the dying people with terminal illnesses do. This would ease suffering.

“Joanne’s case is ready for the case worker and has been for a long time. What will the SNP Government now do today to speed things up and respect each and every survivor of historic abuse? The SNP has only one chance to make redress work and the time is running out.”

‘Priority given to those with a terminal illness’

Officials working on the redress scheme are said to have admitted they “never thought everyone would apply so soon”. Many abuse survivors are now elderly and it is thought that thousands have died since the scandals were first exposed more than 20 years ago.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases however in response to feedback received, the operating model for Scotland’s Redress Scheme has been improved to ensure that applications can be progressed prior to applicants having a case worker allocated and that the scheme remains robust, credible and operates efficiently, with survivors at the heart at all times.

“As each application is unique to an individual’s experience it is not possible to determine an average timescale, however, priority is given to applicants with a terminal illness and those over 68 years of age.”

He urged applicants to call the Redress Emotional Support Helpline on 0800 211 8403 to access support “while applying, or thinking about applying to the scheme”.

The spokesman added: “The most recent information shows that 1,468 survivor applications and 88 next of kin applications have been received. One-hundred-and-eighty-nine redress applications have been passed to Redress Scotland for consideration and of those, 136 have had an initial determination made.

“Payments totalling £4,868,548 have been made. Applicants have six months from the date of receiving an offer of payment to make a decision of whether to accept.”

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/snp-letting-down-victim-abuse-27858461