IICSA: Child abuse inquiry hears from 648th and final witness

Inquiry chairwoman Prof Alexis Jay was the fourth person to lead the probe

An inquiry into claims of child sexual abuse in England and Wales has finished its final public hearing.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence from 648 witnesses over four years.

It is investigating claims against local authorities, religious organisations, the armed forces and public and private institutions - as well as people in the public eye.

The inquiry's final report will be published in 2022.

IICSA was set up in July 2014 after hundreds of people came forward to say Jimmy Savile had abused them as children.

But it was initially beset with controversy, with three chairwomen resigning and lawyers quitting their posts.

In 2016 current chairwoman, Prof Alexis Jay, who led the Rotherham abuse inquiry, was appointed to the role.

The IICSA has held 323 days of public hearings and disclosed 24,565 documents totalling more than 590,000 pages.

The hearings have led to 14 reports so far - with a further five due to be published next year -containing 53 recommendations to better protect children from sexual abuse.

The inquiry has investigated allegations of abuse against Lord Janner, who died in 2015

Speaking at the end of the public hearings, Prof Jay thanked the witnesses who had contributed to the inquiry's 15 investigations.

"A vast amount of work has gone into making these hearings possible over the last four years, including earlier this year when we became the UK's first public inquiry to hear evidence in a virtual setting following the outbreak of Covid-19.

"While this is a significant milestone for the inquiry, we still have a busy programme of work to complete in the coming year.

"This will cover research and investigation reports, which will all contribute to our final report."

What has the IICSA been investigating?

The inquiry's public hearings consisted of 15 separate investigations.

The inquiry is investigating:

• the institutional responses to the sexual exploitation of children by organised abuse networks

• alleged failings at Lambeth Council; the Roman Catholic Church; residential schools and the support services and legal remedies available to victims and survivors

• current child protection policies and practices in religious institutions in England and Wales - including non-conformist Christian denominations, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Buddhism, as well as tuition classes, groups and camps linked to religious beliefs

• the effective leadership of child protection institutions tasked with safeguarding them against sexual abuse

• the institutional responses to child sexual abuse allegations against the late Lord Janner, the former Labour peer who in 2015 was ruled unfit to stand trial on child sex abuse charges

How the child sexual abuse inquiry works

Last month, a report from the inquiry concluded the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales had failed to show compassion towards victims of abuse within the Church.

In October, the inquiry heard that police investigations into allegations of child sexual abuse against the former Labour MP, Lord Janner, amounted to a "cover-up".