Scotland: Abuse allegations inquiry is finally to start after 15 years

The late Elizabeth McWilliams campaigned for an inquiry into the allegations

ONE of the most long-awaited public inquiries to be held in Scotland is due to get under way tomorrow.

The statutory inquiry into historical abuse of children in care will be headed by leading QC Susan O’Brien and is expected to last four years before reporting back to Cabinet Secretary for Education Angela Constance.

It will investigate the abuse of children in formal institutional care including by religious orders, as well as council-run children’s homes and secure care.

It will also extend to those in foster care, long-term hospital care and boarding schools.

The inquiry, announced in December, will have the power to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence, and Constance previously pledged that where crimes are uncovered the “full force of the law’’ would be used to bring those responsible to justice.

It comes after 15 years of relentless campaigning by victims of child abuse in orphanages stretching back decades and follows a pledge by the SNP in opposition that they would hold one when they took power.  (more...)

Abuse allegations inquiry is finally to start after 15 years