Scottish Government announce appointment of head of abuse survivor redress fund

By The Press Association16th August 2021News ScotlandChild Abuse, Government / Politics, News Scotland, Non-Recent / Historic Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Victim Support

The head of a new fund aimed at compensating the survivors of abuse in care has been announced by the Scottish Government.

Joanna McCreadie (pictured) will be chief executive of Redress Scotland, which was set up after the passage of the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021 earlier this year.

Under the scheme, survivors of abuse in Scotland’s care facilities before December 2004 will be eligible for a payment of between £10,000 and £100,000.

Survivors will be able to apply for a fixed rate sum of £10,000, or can seek more if they are willing to have their claim individually assessed.

Funding for the scheme comes directly from organisations where abuse took place.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney – who shepherded the Bill through Holyrood – said: “Scotland is taking steps to face up to the failings of the past by establishing a financial redress scheme for survivors of historical child abuse in care.

“While nothing can ever make up for the suffering survivors have endured, the national redress scheme offers a non-adversarial and survivor-focused alternative route to justice.

“I would like to welcome Joanna McCreadie to the role of chief executive at Redress Scotland. Joanna brings a wealth of senior experience from the charitable sector and her expertise and commitment will help Scotland establish the high-quality redress scheme survivors deserve.”

Ms McCreadie was formerly head of the Gannochy Trust.

Redress Scotland chairman Johnny Gwynne said: “Joanna will provide responsive and compassionate leadership in her role as chief executive.

“I look forward to working with her as we build an effective organisation that carefully considers applications for redress and earns the trust of survivors.”

Despite passing in Holyrood earlier this year, the legislation has not been without controversy.

Some survivors have described the use of a waiver in the Act as a “betrayal”.

Those in receipt of payments will have to waive their rights to legal action against the organisations where they suffered abuse.

The Deputy First Minister said during the process that those organisations would be reluctant to pay into the scheme if they feared being taken to court by recipients after the fact.