MOVES UNDERWAY TO SET UP COMMISSION ON ABUSE

Social care leaders are to be asked to support a national
commission of inquiry into child abuse similar to the body launched
in Ireland last year.

Deryk Mead, chief executive of children’s charity NCH, is to
meet Irish government officials this summer to investigate whether
a commission could work in this country.

He believes a joint initiative between the Association of
Directors of Social Services, the Local Government Association and
the Social Services Inspectorate, discussed at the ADSS spring
seminar, could help develop a national body to co-ordinate
responses to abuse scandals.

NCH would be prepared to make a financial commitment to the
development, but insurers which work with organisations facing
compensation claims from victims of abuse, could also be approached
to help finance the initiative, he said. Funding for at least six
month’s development work would be required.

Mead said: “We have put a lot of effort in with our insurance
company to make sure the whole system works as far as possible to
assist people who used to be in our care.

“But we now feel there may be a better way this can be
approached nationally,” he said.

A commission could help to codify the legal issues and good
management practice, he said, to ensure cases are handled more
speedily and effectively.