Victims deserve compensation as well as justice, abuse inquiry told

By Mike Wade
Times
January 30, 2017

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/victims-deserve-compensation-as-well-as-justice-abuse-inquiry-told-23zj3bczk

The senior judge Lady Smith will tomorrow chair a preliminary hearing of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry

Campaigners have urged ministers to extend the powers of an inquiry into the abuse of youngsters in care, enabling it to authorise compensation for victims.

The senior judge Lady Smith will tomorrow chair a preliminary hearing of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, but her officials have already made clear that it cannot recommend payments to victims.

Campaigners, however, have been encouraged by a report into historical child abuse in Northern Ireland published this month by Sir Anthony Hart, which concluded that victims should receive financial redress of up to £100,000.

Victims groups last night urged Lady Smith to follow suit. Alan Draper, spokesman for In Care Abuse Survivors, said: “What survivors want is justice, accountability and redress.