Institutional Child Abuse and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

This card relies on official sources, including the inquiry's published findings and legislation. It deliberately avoids detailed accounts of abuse and does not name individuals. Readers affected by the subject can find support through the organisations listed.

Children in care

established During the twentieth century, children were placed in residential care in Scotland for many reasons: poverty, family breakdown, bereavement, or decisions by courts and authorities. Institutions included homes run by Catholic and Protestant religious orders and charities, local authority homes, approved and residential schools, boarding schools, and foster placements.

Recognition

established Survivors of abuse in care spent many years campaigning to be heard. In 2004 First Minister Jack McConnell apologised in the Scottish Parliament on behalf of the nation to those who had been abused in residential care. Tom Shaw's 2007 review examined the regulatory framework for residential schools and homes from 1950 to 1995.

The inquiry

established The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was set up on 1 October 2015. Its first chair, Susan O'Brien QC, resigned in 2016, and Lady Smith, a judge of the Inner House of the Court of Session, took over on 1 August 2016. The inquiry was originally expected to report by 2019; that deadline was later replaced by "as soon as reasonably practicable". The inquiry has heard from many survivors in private sessions and held public hearings into case studies, including homes run by religious orders, institutions run by charities and local authorities, independent boarding schools, and foster care. It has published findings on these case studies, concluding that children were abused in many of the institutions examined.

Redress and justice

established The Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Act 2017 removed the three-year time limit for civil actions for childhood abuse. The Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 established a financial redress scheme, administered by Redress Scotland, with contributions sought from organisations responsible for care. Criminal prosecutions have also followed in some cases.

Support

established Survivors can seek support from services such as Future Pathways, which provides personalised support to adults who were abused in care as children in Scotland.

• Scotland's First Minister apologised to survivors in 2004.
• The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry began in 2015.
• The time bar for civil claims was removed in 2017.
• Redress Scotland administers a redress scheme.
• The inquiry has examined homes, schools and foster care.
• The inquiry's first case study findings, in 2018, concerned homes run by the Daughters of Charity.
• By the end of 2021 the inquiry had cost more than £51 million.

• Do not include detailed descriptions of abuse.
• Do not name individual survivors or alleged perpetrators.
• Do not generalise about all institutions; findings differ by case study.