Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on 3 December 2025 that “the national review [of group-based sexual harm] will provide a more accurate and focused picture of the scale of and response” to the issue, whether it will confirm who the members of the review will be; on what basis they will be selected, and when they will be in place.
The Independent National Review of Group-Based Sexual Abuse and Exploitation will be jointly undertaken by the Care Inspectorate, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, and Health Improvement Scotland. The four statutory Inspectorates are independent of government and the organisations which they scrutinise. They have powers to compel public authorities to provide information they request.
Professor Alexis Jay will provide expert advice on the Review’s design and at key stages of the process given her extensive knowledge and experience of group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation.