The Government has today published its long-awaited response to the Final Recommendations published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

The Final IICSA Report was published in October 2022, bringing together eight years of investigations and thousands of testimonies from survivors. The Survivors Trust, alongside many victims-survivors and specialist sexual violence and abuse services, hoped the Final Recommendations would generate a much-needed culture change around how we as a society respond to child sexual abuse, making institutions accountable and ensuring every survivor can access the support they need. 

The Survivors Trust Chief Executive, Fay Maxted OBE, and London Training Manager, Lucy Duckworth, met with the Home Secretary today prior to the publication of the Government’s response to the Final Recommendations.

Fay and Lucy were leading campaigners for a statutory inquiry and were subsequently appointed to the Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel (VSCP) which supported engagement with victims/survivors throughout the duration of the Inquiry including designing the Truth Project.

A joint statement from chair Professor Alexis Jay, and the Victims and Survivors Consultative Panel expresses deep disappointment in the Government’s failure to accept the full package of recommendations made by the report.

The full statement reads: 

“The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established in March 2015 because the government recognised that institutions in England and Wales were failing to protect children from sexual abuse.

“After taking evidence from 725 witnesses during 325 days of public hearings, hearing from over 6,000 victims and survivors of child sexual abuse during our Truth Project and producing 52 reports, we published a concluding report in October last year, which included 20 recommendations. 

“These recommendations were a carefully considered set of measures, designed to complement each other to provide a comprehensive world-class framework for the protection of children.  

“We are deeply disappointed that the government has not accepted the full package of recommendations made in the final report. In some instances, the government has stated that a number of them will be subject to consultations, despite the extensive research and evidence-taking which the Inquiry carried out over seven years.

“The package announced by the government today will not provide the protection from sexual abuse that our children deserve. We ask the government to reconsider and accept and enact all our recommendations in full.”

The Survivors Trust will release a full statement once we have fully reviewed the Government's response. For further enquiries or interviews please email [email protected].

If you or a loved one has been affected by sexual violence or abuse please remember specialist support is available. The Survivors Trust free, confidential helpline (08088 010818) is available 7 days a week to provide emotional support, information and signposting to survivors, their supporters and professionals. For more information and full opening hours, please visit www.thesurvivorstrust.org/our-helpline. 

Alternatively, visit our Find Support in Your Area page to see which TST member provides support in your local area.