Sex abuse inquiry chair ‘frustrated’ at lack of quick action on recommendations

The chair of a major inquiry into child sex abuse has told of her frustration that her recommendations to tackle the “horrific” crime have still not been enacted, as the Home Secretary was challenged to set out a clear timeline for action.

Professor Alexis Jay noted there had been a “long silence” from the Home Office following the Government’s official response in May to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) recommendations which had been published in October 2022.

Making a speech in front of a small gathering at Parliament, which included Home Secretary James Cleverly and members of the Survivors Trust, which represents abuse survivors, Prof Jay said the recommendations must be acted on “quicky and fully”.

She said: “There will continue to be horrific abuse of children if the recommendations we made are not acted upon quicky and fully.

Lat year, then-home secretary Suella Braverman said the Government had accepted the “need to act on 19 out of the inquiry’s 20 final recommendations”.

Prof Jay cited the lack of an “in-built follow-up” requirement to check on progress by Government as a weakness of public inquiries.

She told the PA news agency: “Public inquiries have a great deal to commend them but one of their weaknesses is that there’s no in-built follow-up required.

She noted the language used by Ms Braverman last year had been to “accept the need to do this”, which Prof Jay said is “not the same as committing to doing it”.

Asked how she feels personally, she said she was “very, very frustrated”, having spent so much time on research, consultations, holding public hearings, and taking expert views.

On the need for action now, she said: “I just want to stress the point that there’s no need to spend more time on acquiring intelligence, consultations etc on these matters – we just have to get on and do it.”

Prof Jay called on all political parties to press for action, to prioritise the issue and to include it in their election manifestoes – as she noted it was “a little disappointing” that the event on Wednesday had only been attended by a handful of MPs despite many being invited.

Opening the event, Labour MP Jess Phillips spoke bluntly on the need for a timeline for action and for detail on what he Government will do, as she referenced its focus on illegal migration.

Before introducing Mr Cleverly, she said: “We need to know when they (the recommendations) are going to happen, on a timeframe, when we can expect to see outcomes from that.

“I want to see as much detail about that as I have seen about the boats and Rwanda.”

Mr Cleverly acknowledged that it is “easy for us to say how terrible this (the issue of child abuse) is and how much needs to be done”.

He added: “Having a general desire to make things better is all well and good but really to drive change, we have to talk about specifics and that’s why the recommendations from the inquiry are incredibly important.”

He referred to the Government update last week on a mandatory reporting duty, as part of the Criminal Justice Bill, for people working with children across England to report “known or witnessed incidents of child sexual abuse”.

Mr Cleverly described redress for victims and survivors as “a difficult and challenging issue in practical terms”, but said his department will continue to work with Prof Jay on it, adding that “the moral argument is compelling”.

He pledged to continue working with voluntary organisations, statutory organisations, technology companies and in support of victims, adding: “It will take a whole society commitment to eradicate this”.

Prof Jay said she was “particularly pleased” to hear of progress on mandatory reporting, adding: “We hope this is the start of a sustained process of engagement with all of the interested parties but, of course, primarily with victims and survivors.”

Former home secretary Theresa May, who had been due to attend the event, instead sent a video message from Davos, in which she thanked all those who had contributed to the long-running inquiry and welcomed the Government’s commitment around mandatory reporting.

Laying down the challenge to Mr Cleverly, she said: “The Government has an important role to play now in putting those recommendations into place. Over to you, Home Secretary.”

A Government spokesperson said it is continuing to engage with a “wide range of stakeholders, victims and survivors to ensure we use all levers we can to tackle this horrific crime and keep children safe”.