Peter Wanless to head review of how Home Office handled child sex abuse allegations

UNITED KINGDOM
Civil Society

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless has been asked by the Home Secretary to lead a review into whether the Home Office failed to act on allegations of child sex abuse.

The review will look at how the Home Office handled allegations of child sex abuse that were set out in a dossier in the 1980s by former Conservative MP Geoff Dickens, and how police and prosecutors handled information given to them. Wanless will report back in eight to ten weeks time.

Last week the Labour MP Simon Danczuk called on the then Home Secretary Leon Brittan to explain what happened to the documents after a Home Office review found that 114 files relating to child sex abuse were not available.

Wanless said: “It’s important to discover everything we can about what happened to these files, not only to help those who may have been victims of abuse many years ago but also to protect those children at risk now.

“The NSPCC is known for its independence and I will approach this review with the due diligence and dedication it warrants – which is what all children have every right to expect.”

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