The Survivors Trust (TST) welcomes the Government’s renewed commitment to tackling child sexual abuse, following the release of Baroness Casey’s audit into organised networks of child sexual exploitation. The recommendations in Baroness Casey’s report reinforce the importance of implementing the findings from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Calls for greater understanding of how abuse is enabled and ignored and actions to tackle this are dependent on IICSA’s recommendations being implemented in full first.
Today’s announcement of another national inquiry must not distract from the fact that the Government has yet to deliver on the 20 recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) the most comprehensive investigation of its kind in UK history.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper today confirmed that the Government will implement all 20 IICSA recommendations. The Survivors Trust urges her to do so without delay, and to publish a clear timetable for delivery.
“We are pleased to hear the Home Secretary reiterate this Government’s commitment to implementing all 20 IICSA recommendations and to delivering sustainable funding that meets the real-world needs of survivors,” said Fay Maxted OBE, Chief Executive of The Survivors Trust. “There is no hierarchy of abuse, and no survivor should be left behind because their experience does not fit a political narrative.”
The IICSA inquiry ran for eight years, cost £185 million, and involved over 7500 of testimonies from survivors. Yet, nearly three years later, only two of its 20 recommendations have been meaningfully progressed. These include crucial changes to the justice system, education, and safeguarding, as well as the creation of a long-promised independent Child Protection Authority. Despite a series of actions agreed by the government 10 months ago to implement these, they have still not happened. It is essential that Government departments stop working in silos and act collectively to deliver the full IICSA package.
The Survivors Trust calls on the Government to:
- Publish a clear timetable for full implementation of all 20 IICSA recommendations.
- Establish and fund the independent Child Protection Authority, as announced in January.
- Double core funding for specialist sexual violence and abuse services in this Parliament, as promised by the Safeguarding Minister in April.
- Ensure that any new inquiry includes scrutiny of why the IICSA recommendations have not yet been fulfilled.
More than 14 million adults in the UK live with the lifelong impact of childhood sexual abuse. Specialist frontline services supporting them are under enormous strain — with some facing cuts, closures, and unsustainable waiting lists — despite repeated Government pledges to expand support. Survivors need more than promises: they need delivery.
Join the Conversation
The Survivors Trust, as host of the ACT on IICSA campaign group, is running a free webinar, open to all, to discuss current progress on IICSA and all the issues raised above, this Thursday 19th June at 10.30am. Further details, including how to register, can be found here.
Media contacts
Press Office, The Survivors Trust
📞 07427605202 | 📧 info@thesurvivorstrust.org
