Please note this podcast contains mention of child sexual abuse. In 2015, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was set up to investigate where institutions failed to protect children in their care. The inquiry's final report, published in October 2022, laid out a set of powerful recommendations to address past failings and protect future generations of children from abuse.
Recommendations for Change is a five-part podcast series from NSPCC Learning, examining why these recommendations are needed, how they'll work if implemented, and what impact they will have on the prevention of child sexual abuse. Episode five: justice and redress. The criminal and civil justice systems play an important role in the way the state responds to child sexual abuse.
However, many of IICSA's investigations feature details of inadequate responses from the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts. Through the IICSA Truth Project, victims and survivors were able to share their firsthand experiences of the justice system, from initial disclosure of abuse, through investigation by the police force or CPS, and then to court.
The IICSA final report summarises the challenges they faced in pursuit of justice, including failures by police forces to fully investigate reports of child sexual abuse and delays in court proceedings, which can be stressful and traumatising for victims and survivors. In this final episode of Recommendations for Change, we'll be exploring how the information and recommendations proposed in the IICSA final report might improve victims and survivors experiences of the criminal justice system.
We'll also be looking at proposed changes to the available schemes of compensation and redress. The first person I spoke to about policing and the criminal justice system was Ian Critchley. Ian is the National Police Chiefs Council lead for child protection and was previously the deputy chief constable of Merseyside Police.
My role, so this can be broken down into three or four key areas. One is making sure that policing consistently develops and enhances its approach to prevent child abuse, to give confidence to victims — both children and adult survivors — to come forward and to bring more offenders to justice. So that's a really critical area for us. And clearly we take much learning from from IICSA around that. Two is to enhance partnerships at the national and local levels.
I work very much with national key stakeholders, both within government, statutory partners, but also obviously charitable organisations and third sector like the NSPCC as well.
And thirdly, I work very closely with the College of Policing and the Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme to make sure that we are converting strategy and reviews into action that makes a real difference at every level, whether that's our specialist child protection teams, whether that is our front line officers — you know, new 20,000 officers come into the organisation — contact centre staff; everybody within the system knows their role, also knows the partner
role, so we can work together to best protect children from abuse that we know will have a lifelong impact.
Ian began by giving an overview of the recommendations and findings in the IICSA final report relating to the justice system.
There is clearly within the 20 key recommendations, requirements to review the joint inspection of the Victims' Code and also removal of the three year time limitations for civil claims as well; recognising the impact that child abuse has on victims, and also timeliness in terms of confidence to report, as well. So I think they are some of the key recommendations within there.
I remind myself of what was the evidence that was given and provided across the criminal justice system, and it is at this point where I continue to reiterate my apology on behalf of policing and the failures that took place over many years in relation to the way we failed to believe, listen, to deal with timeliness of investigation, to signpost to victim support services, to make sure our language was appropriate at all times and was no way victim blaming, to provide communications in
relation to how quick our investigations were progressing or not as well. And, I also remind myself that we are part and parcel of the wider criminal justice system. So CPS, there was evidence given within the Truth Project around the need for CPS to give further information around verdicts, sentencing, decisions not to prosecute. The court system, quite frankly, is just too slow for victims once they do make that difficult decision to disclose, years and years sometimes in the waiting.
And then, I read from from one victim, Bethany, within the Truth Project, whose quote: "the sentence massively diminished the crime. It makes me feel worthless." So, again, very careful around when we talk about outcomes, that this is lifelong and a criminal justice element is just one bit of that.
Focusing in on the police force. The police are often the first to be told about an incident of child sexual abuse. Of the IICSA Truth Project participants who did disclose their abuse at the time it was happening, 33% disclosed to the police. It's therefore critical that police forces respond appropriately to such reports. Unfortunately, as you just alluded to, a number of victims and survivors talked about the police not taking formal action after reports
were made. Please can you explain where the police force has gone wrong in responding to child sexual abuse in the past, and what needs to be done to improve responses to CSA going forward?
Yeah. If I touch, first of all, I suppose on what we're doing in policing and what was identified in IICSA. So, really interesting fact that, you know, up until 1988 the uncorroborated evidence of a child was inadmissible [in court]. You know, a myth— a criminal justice system that perpetuated a myth about children. We didn't link perpetrators together. So we might have had an investigation 'A' over here — it might even have been in the same force — or investigation 'B' over here, but not
talking to each other. Perfect case of that was obviously the appalling offences committed by Jimmy Saville, around it, which led to obviously developments and us enhancing both the police national database but also Operation Hydrant around it. A hierarchy that existed in police forces where concerns by our investigators were failed to be able to be acted on by strategic leaders.
I talked about a victim blaming and belief: we historically have arrested children who were seeking to report crimes of abuse, leaving the abuser free to continue to have perpetrate their appalling crimes. Areas like missing, we weren't picking up on the warning signs. So areas like missing, failing to undertake quality return interviews and really not identifying the scale and nature of it, particularly around group-based offending of course.
In some areas, we were paying deference to persons in positions of prominence as well, who escaped justice. Making wrong decisions by police and CPS to prosecute — I've actually just chaired a child sexual abuse referral panel. And we've also now got since 2013 the right to review. So giving an opportunity for victims to review NFA decisions by police and the CPS. Of course, we want to make sure we make the right decisions in the first place. What are we doing around that?
We're working very closely with the College of Policing to enhance our training of both our specialist staff and our frontline staff. IICSA makes specific recommendations in reference to special measures for children. So, of course, we brought in achieving best evidence interviews.
And now, a victim's testimony can be obviously played in terms of the digital recording of that, but we've also now progressed on to, in some areas, the examination and cross-examination also being done as recorded, as well, to again assist a victim within that area. The Victims' Code: IICSA makes specific reference to the Victims' Code and the 12 rights within there, first published in 2005, I think. I think what's key within there, there is a right for victims to have a referral to
support for victims. Yet IICSA found that very few victims were getting advocacy and support during an investigation stage. But, as we know, victims need different types of support, particularly around their mental health and well-being, and that just wasn't being provided or signposted. They have a right to be provided the information about the investigation, the trial and compensation, and this wasn't
happening. They have a right to be informed about the outcome and appeal and how the offender will be managed, as well. And a right to have the knowledge and use of special measures as well. So good reference in IICSA, to make sure that we are fulfilling what is already within the Victims' Code and it is our responsibility to make sure is undertaken and progressed in a really professional, caring, empathetic way.
You mentioned survivors have a right to advocacy during investigations, but that very few victims and survivors are getting that advocacy. How do we improve access to advocacy during an investigation of child sexual abuse?
I think there's a real challenge here in terms of advocacy, whether that's for children, whether that's for adult survivors, I see it across a wider area of vulnerability around advocates for domestic abuse as well. There is a critical role here for police and crime commissioners, to make sure there is good joined-up funding streams for the advocacy of such
a service. I do believe — and one of the recommendations from IICSA was a joint inspection of the Victims' Code, and it does also obviously feature in terms of HMICFRS inspections as to how they are applying the Victims' Code, but clearly it goes beyond the policing responsibility here to other statutory partners as well.
I do think there needs to be a national review of both the funding and the provision of children's and adult survivors advocacy service, particularly around therapeutic support. We know only too well the pressure that's on services like CAMHS as well. And we know only too well that if we don't catch it early, and we don't intervene early with the right level of support and intervention, then we know that harm to that young person or adult survivor will get much, much worse.
And there will be a cost to that. There will be a financial cost, because that will mean that that person will require services for a long time that haven't been provided at the earliest opportunity. But most sadly, there's obviously human cost of harm, and we will find that that person, that victim of crime, will be in and out of interventions for a long time, if not for the rest of their
lives. So there's absolutely a moral requirement and a human requirement on us to improve the position that we're in now. I've talked earlier on about the scale of child abuse: we're now dealing with over 100,000 crimes reported to us. Each one of those persons is a victim in their own right and absolutely deserves the advocacy that will help them through not just any criminal justice process that takes place. And that is important.
And, you know, being confident that they've been dealt with in the most appropriate way is important, but much beyond, much beyond that. And I think there's a real stretch and strain on the advocacy service that needs a complete review and an overhaul that's recommended by IICSA.
In our conversation, Ian identified areas for improvements that sit outside of IICSA's 20 main recommendations, particularly the need for police services to improve the way they respond to victims and survivors. Simon Bailey was Ian's predecessor as National Police Chiefs Council lead for Child Protection, serving in post for eight years. He is now a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.
I spoke to Simon about the same topic: what changes are needed to improve the experiences of the criminal justice system for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse?
For me, it starts with with the basics. And first and foremost — it's something I feel very strongly about, I feel passionately about, and have done my best to champion — and that's the importance of victims knowing that at the point of reporting their abuse, that they are believed.
There is really significant academic research that has been done that talks about one of the biggest hurdles for victim/survivors to overcome is: "am I going to be believed to the point of reporting my abuse?" And knowing that they are reporting into a justice system that from the— at the start of that report — and I will clarify that — they are going to be believed, is essential. And victims, I think, are owed that right.
However — and this is where it's nuanced and it's important that there is real clarity around this — once the report has been taken, once the evidence has been secured as best it can be at that point, thereafter there has to be an investigation without fear or favour, and police officers, police staff, then need to go wherever the evidence will take them. And I have not spoken to a victim/survivor that doesn't agree with that approach. It is not a blind belief.
It's important the victim come forward knowing that they will be believed, but also knowing that thereafter there will be a completely impartial investigation. And I think that has to be step one. Step two: there needs to be, throughout the course of the investigation that the investigating officers, the investigating team, keep the victim survivor fully updated on progress. If they are saying they're going to call them at 11 o'clock tomorrow, they need to make that call.
They need to keep them updated on the progress. And even if it's a call that says "there's nothing more I can tell you this amount of time, or there are no new updates", but just that engagement is so, so important.
And then, as the investigation progresses and they get to the point of the Crown Prosecution Service making that decision, my personal view is and it's so important that the Crown Prosecution Service should be making the decisions based about — a decision to charge or not — based upon the evidence that's in front of them. And they shouldn't be taking a bookmaker's approach. It shouldn't be based upon what's the likelihood here?
If there is evidence there of abuse, then that evidence should be being put before a jury for a jury then to decide. And then the final element for me has got to be that the criminal justice system, at this moment in time, is taking too long to deal with these cases. The statistics are there in the public domain, the number of days it is taking for the moment of report to charge, then to
a trial. We have got to speed up the process, and we've got to be looking at the pilots that are taking place in terms of the dedicated sexual offending courts, I think that's really important, because the staff that are dealing with these cases, the court staff, the prosecutors, should be aware of the trauma that the victim has has suffered and they should be equipped to be able to deal with that. And the courtroom should not become a hostile environment for victims and survivors of of abuse.
Yes, you have to go through the judicial process. I completely get that. But the bottom line is that it should be done in such a way that the court staff, the environment, appreciates the trauma of what's happened and they — the victims/survivors — should be afforded the appropriate level of support and the awareness as they go into it. And there are ways of being able to deal
with that. And you'll be aware of the conversations that have taken place around the pre-recording of evidence and what that might look like.
So I think that if we get those principles right, around belief, but not a blind belief; around the routine of keeping victim/survivors up to date and aware of the investigation as it goes; when the CPS are making the decisions, let's make sure it's a merits-based decision, not a bookmaker's decision; and let's then make sure that when a charge is made, that actually the judicial process is then cognisant of trauma that what is then the witness, the victim, the witness has then
endured, and how you make the system as supportive as possible.
What steps would you take to make that system more supportive?
I think the key thing is that the specialists working within those courts needs to be trauma-informed. They need to have that training. Specialist, independent sexual violence advisors need to be made available to the victims as well. And I think that's really important that
they understand that. And that when you are then dealing within that, in that particular court setting, you need to make sure that the support is right there for the victims; that the staff understand, that they have the right support, have an appreciation of what those victim/survivors have been exposed to, what what it's been like for them, the courage that they have had to to come forward and report it. And, on the back of that, you then create a very, very different environment.
Finally, is there any specific advice you would give to professionals working across the criminal justice system — in policing, in the courtroom — on how to respond to the IICSA findings?
I think the the most important thing for me, having operated on the policing side of the criminal justice system for 35 years, is to realise that you are not just dealing with a case number. You are dealing with a person. You're dealing with a victim. And that's why recommendation 14 of the inquiry talks about the importance of compliance with the Victims' code. And I think that is
so important. There needs to be further work done around that, and a joint inspection regarding compliance with the Victims' Code. There are some gaps and I think IICSA has identified gaps. There needs to be a review to look at the whole systems approach to the criminal justice response of what is taking place and the, you know, the recommendation is clear.
The inspectorates carry out that regular joint inspection on victims' issues, because actually it's really important that the the victim/survivors are made to feel that they are being treated as a person rather than just another case that's going through the court system.
During our conversations, both Ian and Simon mentioned the Victims' Code. Recommendation 14 of the IICSA final report asks the UK government to arrange for a joint inspection of the compliance with the Victims' Code in relation to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. Here's Ian Critchley again to briefly explain what the Victims' Code is and how it protects children.
The Victims' Code was brought in 2005. It's a statutory mechanism: the rights of all victims that needs to be delivered by criminal justice partners, and I've touched on some of those key rights in terms of referral to support; the victims being kept updated on the investigation; being provided with information about the trial and compensation; being informed about the outcomes and any, obviously, appeal.
But also how an offender is being managed, if they are sentenced to a custodial sentence, again, there are rights to be informed of release around it. Being informed about therapeutic and counselling opportunities; again a myth that the police has perpetuated in the past where we have almost prevented young people and children receiving therapy and counselling, saying it will harm any criminal trial — it
doesn't. We need to deal carefully with, obviously, any third-party material, but there is good process in place around that. And of course, within the Victims' Code, knowledge and use of special measures as well. So a really, really important piece of legislation for us, particularly when it comes to how we deal with child victims.
And I asked Simon to explain what gaps there are in the Victim's Code.
I think probably the most the most important thing is — and I know IICSA were aware of this — is the concerns around access to special measures and how actually the quality of witnesses' evidence to the court is enhanced by affording them access to special measures. So again, I think it's all picked up in that compliance with the Victims' Code. The code is not being consistently applied and followed.
There were concerns around access to special measures, which were all designed around improving the quality of the victim's evidence to the court. So, that needs to be to be looked at. And, I believe in June of last year, the government responded to the consultation and talked about enshrining the Victims' Code into law. So again, I think that's a positive step forward.
Adjacent to the changes around limitation are the recommendations on making amends to victims and survivors. These include changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and setting up a single redress scheme. I asked Tomi Ogundele, one of the lawyers within the NSPCC specialising in child protection law, to outline the proposed changes to redress.
So when it comes to redress: currently, if an individual was abused as a child in England and Wales, there are three ways they can seek compensation. This is by making a legal claim against their abuser in the civil court; through the criminal court, if their abuser is convicted; or from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
There was acknowledgement in IICSA's final report that victims and survivors were dissatisfied with the processes of civil litigation and criminal compensation, and that they had had negative experiences with seeking redress. So the inquiry recommends that the UK government establishes a single redress scheme in England and Wales, taking into account devolved responsibilities. The recommendation outlines who would be
eligible to apply. So essentially, victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation. There is a requirement that there must be clear connection to state or non-state institutions in England and Wales. There would be a deduction of any previous award from any payments under the scheme. And finally, applicants where their civil claims were previously rejected would be excluded from applying.
The scheme should provide payments to eligible applicants through a two tier system based on a fixed flat rate recognition payment, with the option to apply for a second tier payment. The application process must be accessible and straightforward, should run for five years, and should be funded by central and local government, with voluntary contributions sought from non-state institutions.
The redress scheme is not a substitute for criminal or civil justice systems, and it does not replace the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Thanks to Tomi Ogundele, Simon Bailey and Ian Critchley. And thank you for listening to the Recommendations for Change podcast series from NSPCC Learning. In this series, we've explored the recommendations laid out by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and how they might contribute to a more robust, more effective child protection system in the UK. For more information about any of the specific topics covered in the series, we recommend reading the full IICSA final report.
You can also find more safeguarding and child protection resources on the NSPCC Learning website. If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast, you can reach out to the NSPCC Helpline for support, call 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk. This podcast series was produced in Autumn 2023. All information was correct at the time of recording, but the world of child protection is ever-changing. To stay up to date, visit the NSPCC Learning website at nspcc.org.uk/learning.