The president of the committee, Paul Montague, said he had no reason to ask Elizabeth College to broaden its intended inquiry when it briefed him last month, or to ask his members to start one of their own at this stage, but he was ready to act if approached with credible allegations of teachers or other adults abusing children at schools in the public sector.
‘No specific information currently exists to suggest similar concerns have been raised regarding other schools, and so no full consideration was given by officials to broadening the review,’ he said.
‘Should we receive any reports that would lead us to look at other establishments, we could of course do so. In this instance, the briefing was about allegations relating to Elizabeth College specifically.
‘If there are allegations or disclosures people want to make about other educational settings, I would encourage them to do so through official channels.’
The States paid the fees of hundreds of students who attended the college as special place holders throughout the 1970s and 80s, the period covered by the disclosures of abuse made in recent months by a number of former pupils.
That did not give the States any say over the terms of reference of the college’s inquiry, which it determined alone, and Deputy Montague declined to say whether he thought the States should have been involved in drafting or shaping the terms.
‘Questions about the scope and terms of reference should be directed to Elizabeth College,’ he said.
‘However, I would encourage anyone who suffered abuse and wants to disclose it, no matter when they attended the school and why they were at the school, to share that information with the reviewer, the Multi-agency Support Hub (MASH) and the police, as necessary.’
The Ladies’ College, which operates a sixth form in partnership with Elizabeth College, would not say whether it was made aware of the inquiry ahead of it being announced this time last week.
‘These are sensitive issues relating to non-recent cases at Elizabeth College,’ said a spokesperson for The Ladies’ College.
‘It would not be appropriate to comment while this review is ongoing other than to say that we support any school taking action to review such matters.’
Blanchelande College, which like the other two colleges receives grant funding from the States annually, said it was not aware in advance of the inquiry announcement.
‘Blanchelande College makes decisions and takes action on all matters based on information that directly concerns Blanchelande College,’ said principal Alexa Yeoman.