Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to Be Published

The Inquiry will publish its final Report on Thursday 20 October 2022, after:

• 325 days of public hearings with 725 witnesses
• nearly 2.5 million pages of evidence being processed
• the publication of 52 reports (the Interim report, 19 investigation reports, 24 research reports, 8 engagement reports)
• 87 recommendations for change made

What Should We Expect?

There were 18 recommendations made in the Interim Report in April 2018, involving UK Government departments (including the DfE and Home Office), and other stakeholders such as the police, National Police Chiefs' Council and the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The chair and the panel also made separate recommendations in the various investigation reports which we expect to be consolidated in the final report.

One of the most contentious issues is that of mandatory reporting and specifically whether it should be a criminal offence to fail to report child sexual abuse. Professor Ben Matthews made submissions to the Inquiry about this and rehearsed the arguments for and against.

We will be reviewing and digesting the final report after publication and will provide a summary and our thoughts about the likely implications as soon as we can.

In the meantime, if you have any specific questions in relation to IICSA or indeed any other public inquiries, please contact Tabitha Cave on 0117 314 5381 or Natalie Wargent on 0117 314 5433, or complete the form below.