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Dame Lowell Goddard resigns as head of child sexual abuse inquiry Dame Lowell Goddard resigns as head of child sexual abuse inquiry
(about 1 hour later)
The head of the public inquiry into institutional child abuse has resigned just over a year after setting out her vision for an unprecedented five-year investigation into historical abuse and its cover-up. The chair of the public inquiry into institutional child abuse has resigned saying it was beset with a “legacy of failure” which was hard to shake off.
In a decision that will throw the future of the major inquiry into doubt, Justice Lowell Goddard announced on Thursday evening that she was stepping down. Her resignation came 24 hours after reports criticising her for spending three months away from the UK since she was first appointed last year to lead the inquiry, which had been beset with difficulties finding a chair who was acceptable to a powerful lobby of victims’ groups. Lord Justice Lowell Goddard, who was appointed in February last year to chair the unprecedented inquiry into decades of child abuse and their cover up, threw the future of the huge public hearing into doubt with her departing comments.
In her letter of resignation to the home secretary Amber Rudd published on Thursday night, Goddard gave no reason for standing down. She wrote: “I regret to advise that I am offering you my resignation as chair of the independent inquiry into institutional child abuse with immediate effect. I trust you will accept this decision.” After a brief resignation letter to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, Goddard released a statement that indicated the controversies and challenges of the inquiry since it was set up in 2014 were insurmountable.
In a statement, Goddard said that deciding to take on the inquiry after it was beset with problems last year, “was a huge step to take as it meant relinquishing my career in New Zealand and leaving behind my beloved family”. She said the inquiry had a “legacy of failure” that had been “hard to shake off”. Goddard, a New Zealand judge who was persuaded to take on the role after two previous chairs resigned following criticism of their establishment links, quit 24 hours after being criticised in report for taking three months holiday since being appointed in April 2015.
“With hindsight it would have been better to have started completely afresh,” she said, adding: “While it has been a struggle in many respects I am confident there have been achievements and some very real gains for victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse in getting their voices heard.” But her statement suggested there were deeper reason for resigning, which date back to the inquiry’s inception, and its troubled beginnings.
In her response to the resignation letter Rudd said she was sorry to receive it but accepted her decision. She thanked her for the last 16 months of work and said: “It is testament to your commitment that you have taken the difficult decision to stand down having set the inquiry firmly on course, and allow someone else to lead it through to the end. With regret I agree that this is the right decision.” Goddard, who was on a remuneration package that included a salary of £360,000, said: “The conduct of any public inquiry is not an easy task, let alone one of the magnitude of this.
Goddard had recently started sitting on the preliminary hearings into 13 public investigations into non-recent child abuse in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, Westminster, Lambeth council, Medomsley detention centre, and allegations against the late Lord Janner and the late Cyril Smith. “Compounding the many difficulties was its legacy of failure which has been very hard to shake off and with hindsight it would have been better to have started completely afresh.”
She opened the inquiry just over a year ago with a public statement that set out its enormous scale and promised that no individual or institution would be able to obstruct her investigations. She said the inquiry for her had “been a struggle” but was confident there had been achievements made in getting the voices of survivors heard.
In her response, Rudd said she was sorry to receive her letter but accepted her decision. She thanked her for the last 16 months of work and said: “It is testament to your commitment that you have taken the difficult decision to stand down having set the inquiry firmly on course, and allow someone else to lead it through to the end. With regret I agree that this is the right decision.”
Goddard had recently started sitting on the preliminary hearings into 13 public investigations into non-recent child abuse including within the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, Westminster, Lambeth council, Medomsley detention centre, allegations against Greville Janner and the abuse allegations against Cyril Smith.
But a year after the inquiry was set up no evidence has been taken, and an unprecedented project known as the Truth project, to catalogue thousands of individual testimonies of abuse, has only just begun.
Just more than a year ago Goddard opened the inquiry with a public statement that set out its enormous scale and saw her vow that no individual or institution would be able to obstruct her investigations.
She had been appointed after two previous chairs were criticised publicly for their links to the establishment – forcing the then home secretary Theresa May to look internationally for someone suitable.She had been appointed after two previous chairs were criticised publicly for their links to the establishment – forcing the then home secretary Theresa May to look internationally for someone suitable.
Her departure is a critical blow for victims who believed that after decades in which abuse had been covered up, they would finally get to the truth of what had taken place. Elizabeth Butler-Sloss stood down as chair in July 2014 amid questions over the role played by her late brother, Michael Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s. Her successor, Dame Fiona Woolf, resigned following criticism over her “establishment links”, most notably in relation to Leon Brittan, the former home secretary who died in 2015.
The Times reported on Thursday that Goddard, whose inquiry has been given a budget of £17.9m in the first year, had spent three months outside the UK since her appointment in April last year. The paper said Goddard, who is Britain’s highest paid civil servant, worked for 44 days in New Zealand, her home country, and in Australia after taking up the role. May redrew the inquiry under Goddard in March 2015, responding to demands from victims groups that it be placed on a statutory footing, which meant it had the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.
This was in addition to her 30 days of annual holiday leave, the newspaper reported, bringing the total to 74 days, which equates to three working months. Her departure is a critical blow for those victims who believed that, after decades in which abuse had been covered up, they would finally get to the truth of what had taken place. It came after criticism that many victims were being excluded from a key role in the hearings and a report in the Times that saidGoddard – whose inquiry has been given a budget of £17.9m in the first year – had taken three months holiday since being appointed in April of last year.
The inquiry spokeswoman said Goddard had spent 44 days working in New Zealand and Australia on inquiry business, and that the other 30 days were her annual leave.
The spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on where people working for the inquiry spend their annual leave. The chair is always on call and in direct contact with the inquiry team.”
Goddard was on a remuneration package that included a £360,000 salary and a £110,000 annual accommodation allowance, which she used to rent a flat in central London. She also received a utilities allowance of £12,000.
The criticism of Goddard was the first in a series of attacks on her ability to carry out the role. It came after some victims complained that the voices of survivors were not being properly heard in the inquiry.
Writing in the Guardian Phil Frampton, member of a survivors group known as Whiteflowers, criticised her failure to give core participant status to many victims’ groups.
Related: My child abuse inquiry is not just targeted on the famous | Lowell GoddardRelated: My child abuse inquiry is not just targeted on the famous | Lowell Goddard
“To date, Goddard has only permitted them to have involvement in small, splintered sections of the inquiry such as religious institutions and care homes. The paper said Goddard worked for 44 days in New Zealand, her home country, and Australia after taking up the role in April last year.
“In contrast, she has given core participant status to precisely those organisations that so terribly failed survivors: the Home Office, the Department for Education, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police,” he wrote. This was in addition to her 30 days of annual holiday leave, the newspaper reported, bringing the total to 74 days – three working months.
The public inquiry into non-recent child abuse and the failures of institutions to protect children dating back decades was set up in 2014 following the revelations about Jimmy Savile. But the inquiry spokeswoman said the judge had spent 44 days working in New Zealand and Australia on inquiry business, the other 30 days were her annual leave.
The Home Office said on Thursday evening that it would continue, but the search for a new chair who can withstand the high level of public scrutiny and criticism while successfully steering what is a behemoth is likely to be a tough one. The spokesman said: “We do not comment on where people working for the inquiry spend their annual leave. The chair is always on call and in direct contact with the inquiry team.”
The inquiry has been beset by delays since May first announced it. The criticism of Goddard’s leave came after some victims challenged her for not giving them a voice in the proceedings.
Lady Butler-Sloss stood down as chair in July 2014 after questions about the role played by her late brother, Lord Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s. Her successor Dame Fiona Woolf resigned following criticism over her “establishment links”, most notably in relation to Leon Brittan, the former home secretary who died in 2015. Writing in the Guardian Phil Frampton, member of a survivors group known as Whiteflowers that took a legal challenge against Goddard’s decision to exclude some victims from core participant status, criticised the failure of Goddard to give victims a voice.
May redrew the inquiry under Goddard in March 2015, responding to demands from victims’ groups that it be placed on a statutory footing, which meant it had the power to compel witnesses to give evidence. Reacting to her resignation, Frampton said on Thursday her departure was a chance for the inquiry to get onto “the right track”.
Opening the inquiry at the Queen Elizabeth ll Centre in London in July last year Goddard said: “I am determined to ensure that it does not get bogged down in delays.” “It is not clear why Goddard resigned but she was the wrong choice from the beginning,” he said.
A year on from the opening statement in July 2015, however, no evidence has yet been taken and only three out of an expected five regional offices to take testimony from victims in the part of the inquiry known as the truth project have been opened. “Goddard continually refuted survivors’ attempts to have an equal footing at the inquiry to the government institutions that failed them.”
The public inquiry into non-recent child abuse and the failures of institutions to protect children was set up in 2014 following the revelations about Jimmy Savile. Itis expected to last at least five years and hold public inquiries into 25 key areas and institutions.
The inquiry’s terms of reference say that its purpose includes considering “the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation”. It covers England and Wales.The inquiry’s terms of reference say that its purpose includes considering “the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation”. It covers England and Wales.
Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said the decision to quit was “astonishing”. He said: “This is the third head of the inquiry who has now resigned. Serious questions need to be asked about why the Home Office has not monitored events more carefully. The Home Office said on Thursday evening the public inquiry would go on. Rudd said in a statement: “I want to assure everyone with an interest in the inquiry, particularly victims and survivors, that the work of the inquiry will continue without delay and a new chair will be appointed.”
But the search for a new chair, who can withstand the high level of public scrutiny and criticism while successfully steering what is a behemoth of a public inquiry, is likely to be a tough one.
In recent days, the family of Lord Janner have been mounting a high profile campaign to protest his innocence. In articles in a series of newspapers and in an appearance on BBC Newsnight, the family has criticised the Goddard inquiry for unfairness.
Marion Janner, his daughter, told Newsnight the inquiry into him was “grotesque and Kafkaesque”.
The diector of public prosecutionssaid in a statement last year that her lawyers had assessed the allegations against Janner, and in 22 allegations of indecent assault and buggery between 1969 and 1988 the evidential test was passed.
Goddard was to hold a full hearing into the allegations against Janner next spring.
Labour MP Keith Vaz, chair of the home affairs committee, said the decision to quit was “astonishing”. He said: “This is the third head of the inquiry who has now resigned. Serious questions need to be asked about why the Home Office has not monitored events more carefully.
“We will expect a full explanation from both the prime minister and the new home secretary about these matters. We need to examine again the remit, cost, purpose and ambition of what the inquiry was tasked with.”“We will expect a full explanation from both the prime minister and the new home secretary about these matters. We need to examine again the remit, cost, purpose and ambition of what the inquiry was tasked with.”
Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party, said: “We must not let our failure to find a judge with the relevant knowledge and the necessary staying power deter us from progressing with this complex and demanding task. I hope the new home secretary will not attempt to take control of the investigation. The independence of this inquiry must not be compromised by ministers or officials. The government must find a new chair as a matter of great urgency.” Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour party, said: “We must not let our failure to find a judge with the relevant knowledge and the necessary staying power deter us from progressing with this complex and demanding task.
“I hope the new home secretary will not attempt to take control of the investigation. The independence of this inquiry must not be compromised by ministers or officials. The government must find a new chair as a matter of great urgency.”