I wish to update the House on the change in Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and today is my first opportunity to do so.
This Inquiry was established in March 2015 to consider the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation, and to make recommendations to protect children from such abuse in future.
On 4 August 2016 the Chair Dame Lowell Goddard wrote to me to offer her resignation which I accepted. I am grateful for all of her work on the inquiry to date.
On 11 August I announced the appointment of Professor Alexis Jay as the new Chair of the Inquiry.
I am firmly of the view that the work of the Inquiry needed to continue without delay. Victims and survivors deserve nothing less. After consultation, I decided that Professor Jay was the best person to provide stability and maintain momentum in the Inquiry’s work.
Professor Jay’s experience, lifelong dedication to child protection and her outstanding leadership of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham demonstrate her suitability to lead the Inquiry. I am delighted that she has agreed to do so.
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