Review finds no evidence establishment figures involved in North Wales abuse

There is no evidence that politicians or national establishment figures were involved in the historical abuse of children in care in North Wales, a review has found.

A report into the abuse, which took place between 1974 and 1996, was compiled by High Court judge Sir Ronald Waterhouse.

And a newly published review of the Waterhouse inquiry conducted by Lady Justice Macur has found there is no reason to “undermine” its findings.

Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb (pictured) set out the findings of the review in a statement to the House of Commons.

He said: “Having completed this work, Lady Justice Macur’s main finding is that, and I quote, ‘I have found no reason to undermine the conclusions of Waterhouse in respect of the nature and the scale of abuse’.

“Lady Justice Macur looked carefully at the specific issue of nationally prominent figures and concluded that there was, and again I quote, ‘no evidence of the involvement of nationally prominent individuals in the abuse of children in care in North Wales between 1974 and 1996’.”

Mr Crabb told MPs that the review had examined the documents available to the Waterhouse inquiry and found there was no solid evidence of the involvement of high- profile public figures.

What was found in the documents was nothing more than “unreliable speculation”.

Mr Crabb said that when the Welsh Office, which established the original inquiry, was disbanded in 1999 all of the files it held on devolved issues such as social care were handed over to the National Assembly for Wales, including the Waterhouse database.

However, when the database was requested by the Macur review, it was found that in 2008 Welsh government IT contractors had declared the contents “corrupted and unreadable” and as a result had been destroyed.

But the Macur review found that was an “innocent mistake rather than a calculated ploy”.

The review states that better archiving of documentation is “essential” and that all Government departments should have an accurate database of the documents they hold.

Mr Crabb said the Government agrees with those recommendations.

He said: “The failure of the new Wales Office in 1999 under a previous government to adequately archive the material is simply inexcusable but a much more rigorous approach to records management is now in place in the department, abiding by The National Archives’ policy on records management.”

Some parts of the review have been redacted “pending the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings or police investigations” but the names of people who have been found guilty of child sexual abuse have been included.

Meanwhile, Lady Justice Macur has “urged caution” when it comes to publishing the names of those accused of abuse who have not been the subject of a formal investigation, convicted of a crime or where their name is not already in the public domain “in the context of child abuse”.

She has said that to do so would be “unfair” and “unwise” because accusations may have been based on hearsay, people would be unable to appropriately counter any claims and police investigations could be compromised.

Mr Crabb said: “We have followed that advice and removed those names from the report published today.

“It is a fundamental tenet of the law in this country that those accused of a crime are able to face their accusers in court with a jury of their peers having considered the evidence, not tried in the court of public opinion as a result of multiple hearsay.

“It would be irresponsible for the Government to behave differently.”

Mr Crabb said representatives of the relevant police operations into abuse – Pallial, Orarian and Hydrant – have seen the report.

He added: “We are determined to see that those guilty of crimes against children in North Wales are brought to justice and this is happening through the excellent work of Operation Pallial.”

Shadow Welsh secretary Nia Griffith said survivors had waited “decades to be heard”, noting there had been “cover-ups and missed opportunities”.

Ms Griffith told Mr Crabb: “There may be cases where redactions are needed, not least to ensure that no ongoing police investigation is compromised.

“But these redactions must be as few as possible and they must be justified to survivors.”

She asked for confirmation that unredacted versions of Lady Justice Macur’s report would be given to Dame Lowell Goddard’s public inquiry into child sex abuse, something which Mr Crabb confirmed would happen.

Ms Griffith added: “The scale of abuse that has become apparent in recent years has shocked the whole of society.

“It is now quite clear that many thousands of children were targeted by predatory abusers in places where they should have felt safe.

“Far too many of these children were let down for a second time when they reached out for help but nothing was done.

“Our duty is to make sure the survivors of abuse are heard and listened to, that those who report abuse have sufficient protection and that anyone responsible for acts of violence against children is brought to justice.

“Most of all, we must ensure this appalling abuse can never be allowed to happen again.”

Justice Macur) was investigating have cast a dark cloud for many years over North Wales and the Chester area.

“I’m hopeful the report that has today been published will ease those concerns, but I have to say… that I have my own concerns that there are two respects in particular in which that concern will remain.”

Mr Jones describe the storage of documents as a “catalogue of disaster” and sought assurances that the UK Government and Welsh Assembly Government have learned lessons.

He added: “There’s the issue of redactions and I feel this will be a matter that will cause the most concern in North Wales.”

Mr Jones said he understood the reasons given by Mr Crabb and Lady Justice Macur, but he asked the Welsh Secretary to confirm if the Goddard Inquiry could pursue those people redacted.

Mr Crabb said the Macur review recommends that the police and judicial authorities are best-placed to pursue these people.

_{Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2016, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Stefan Rousseau / PA Wire.}