New panel members appointed to Scotland’s Historic Child Abuse Inquiry
By News Scotland, , , ,

Two panel members have been appointed to Scotland’s Historic Child Abuse Inquiry by Education Secretary Angela Constance.

Glenn Houston and Professor Michael Lamb will undertake the important work of the Inquiry, alongside the Chair, Susan O’Brien QC.

Mr Houston is Chief Executive of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority of Northern Ireland and Professor Lamb is a Professor of Psychology and Fellow at Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge.

The Inquiry formally began on October 1, 2015 with Ms O’Brien QC (pictured) calling for those who believe they have information to share with the Inquiry to make initial contact with the Inquiry team.

Ms Constance said: “Following the launch of the Inquiry, the naming of its counsel and the launch of the Inquiry website at the start of this month, I am pleased to be able to announce the appointment of two panel members to support the Chair.

“With Mr Houston’s strong knowledge and experience in health and social care and Professor Lamb’s focus on investigating child maltreatment for over a quarter of a century, their expertise will be invaluable to the Inquiry

“The Panel and the Chair can now begin their work to set out how the Inquiry will be conducted and, importantly, how survivors and others will be kept informed of proceedings.

“I want to reiterate my thanks to all survivors and their supporters who have met with me, my colleagues and those involved in establishing this Inquiry. There is still a long way to go, but we have made significant progress since I announced there would be an Inquiry 10 months ago and appointed the Chair in May.

“The Scottish Government will continue its work on expanding the Survivor Support Fund. Recently, an invitation to tender for providing services for survivors was issued and we have completed consultations on our commitment to remove the time bar preventing survivors of child abuse since 1964 bringing civil cases to court independently of the Inquiry.”

The Inquiry will investigate the nature and extent of abuse of children in care. For the purpose of this Inquiry, “Children in care” includes children in institutional residential care such as children’s homes (including residential care provided by faith based groups); secure care units including List D schools; Borstals; Young Offenders’ Institutions; places provided for Boarded Out children in the Highlands and Islands; state, private and independent Boarding Schools, including state funded school hostels; healthcare establishments providing long term care; and any similar establishments intended to provide children with long term residential care. The term also includes children in foster care.

Chair of the Inquiry Susan O’Brien QC said: “I am very pleased the Cabinet Secretary has been able to engage the assistance of such distinguished people to serve on the Inquiry panel.

“Mr Glenn Houston is a qualified social worker, with decades of practical experience which will be relevant to our work. Professor Lamb is an internationally recognised expert on child abuse. Both will be able to contribute the perspective of professionals who have had lengthy and successful careers outside Scotland”.

Biographies

Glenn Houston

Glenn Houston has been Chief Executive of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), Northern Ireland’s independent health and social care regulator since 2009.

Before taking up this appointment he was Director of Women’s and Children’s Services and Executive Director of Social Work in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

He has over 30 years’ experience working in health and social care services in Northern Ireland, is a member of the Board of the Human Tissue Authority and was also Chief Executive of the former Craigavon and Banbridge Community Trust.

Michael E. Lamb

Michael E. Lamb is Professor of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He completed his first degree in Psychology and Economics at the University of Natal in South Africa, before moving to the USA, where he completed an MA at the Johns Hopkins University and then MS, MPhil, and PhD degrees at Yale University.

He headed a research unit at the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Washington DC, for 17 years.

Professor Lamb received the James McKeen Cattell Award from the Association for Psychological Science for Lifetime Contributions to Applied Psychological Research in 2004, the Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Psychology-Law Society in 2013, the G Stanley Hall Award from the American Psychological Association for Lifetime Contributions to Developmental Psychology in 2014, and both the Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology and the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science in the Public Interest from the American Psychological Association in 2015.

He has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Goteborg (1995), East Anglia (2006), and Abertay (2015), is currently editor of the journal, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, and serves as President-Elect of Division 7 (Developmental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.

Further Reading