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| Fiona Woolf to lead child abuse inquiry | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf has replaced Lady Butler-Sloss as head of the UK government inquiry into historical child abuse. | Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf has replaced Lady Butler-Sloss as head of the UK government inquiry into historical child abuse. |
| Ms Woolf is a tax lawyer and past president of the Law Society. | Ms Woolf is a tax lawyer and past president of the Law Society. |
| She will head an inquiry panel including child abuse experts and at least one victim of abuse. | She will head an inquiry panel including child abuse experts and at least one victim of abuse. |
| Retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss quit as head of the inquiry in July, saying she was "not the right person" for the job. | Retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss quit as head of the inquiry in July, saying she was "not the right person" for the job. |
| She stood down after child abuse victims raised concerns that she is the sister of the late Sir Michael Havers, who was attorney-general in the 1980s when abuse is alleged to have happened. | |
| The Home Office said the inquiry will consider "whether and the extent to which public bodies and other important institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse". | |
| "It will seek to address public concern over failings exposed by successive appalling cases of organised and persistent child sex abuse both historical and more recent." | |
| Ms Woolf is an expert in energy markets and has advised more than 28 governments and the World Bank on privatisation and energy reforms. | |
| As the Lord Mayor of London, she acts as ambassador for the City of London and Britain's financial services industry around the world. | |
| She will be assisted as head of the inquiry by Graham Wilmer, a child sexual abuse victim and founder of the Lantern Project, which helps victims of sex abuse, and Barbara Hearn, former deputy chief executive of the National Children's Bureau. | |
| Their first tasks are to finalise membership of the panel and agree terms of reference for the inquiry, said the Home Office in a statement. |