UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
By Jake Morris
BBC Newsnight
The inquiry into child abuse should be restructured to regain the confidence of survivors, an MP has said.
The Labour MP Chuka Umunna told BBC Newsnight each of the 13 strands that make up the overall inquiry should have their own dedicated head as a way of heading off concerns that the new overall chair of the inquiry has a background in social work, an industry many survivors say failed them.
Some of those survivors have criticised the recent appointment of Professor Alexis Jay. She was appointed as chair following the departure in August of her predecessor Judge Lowell Goddard.
Abuse of children in care in the London borough of Lambeth, which includes Mr Umunna’s constituency, is one of the inquiry strands.
Mr Umunna, who also serves on the Home Affairs Select Committee and is standing to replace Keith Vaz as chair of the committee, told BBC Newsnight: “I think there is a way of moving forward where you have Professor Jay at the top of a federal like structure, encompassing people heading each of the different 13 investigations. I think that way perhaps we can move forward in a way that the survivors will feel comfortable with.”
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