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Keith Levell, a survivor of child sexual abuse at boarding school in Worcestershire, is among thousands of victims in England and Wales who are being failed by the government’s shortcomings in implementing key recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA). The inquiry made 20 recommendations in 2022, including the implementation of a redress scheme and the abolition of laws that made it mandatory for victims to issue legal proceedings before they reached the age of 21.
Lawyer Peter Garsden, who is fighting for compensation on behalf of dozens of victims, has written to the Home Office questioning why, more than two years on, nothing has changed. A spokesperson for the Home Office said it was committed to taking robust action to better safeguard children and support survivors, but Mr Garsden argued that on average, two-thirds of compensation claims were still being turned down nationally.
The limitations-of-action legislation, whereby victims are required to issue legal proceedings before the age of 21 if abuse happened before they were 18, means that most claimants, including Mr Levell, are falling at the first hurdle. It often takes survivors years, if not decades, to speak about their experiences, and despite a consultation ending in July, changes to the law on the limitation of actions have yet to be implemented.
On the back of the IISCA’s recommendations, a redress scheme was to be set up, similar to that in Scotland, which would compensate survivors when a school’s insurers cannot be tracked
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