Susan O’Brien QC resigns as chair of Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry

In a letter to Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Ms O’Brien said: “My position as independent chair of this inquiry has been actively undermined by some Scottish Government officials over the past months.”

Ms. O’Brien was facing an investigation and possible dismissal for alleged inappropriate comments made during a training event.

But the third member of the inquiry, Glenn Houston, who is continuing in his role is understood to have written in support of Ms O’Brien and opposed her dismissal.

The Deputy First Minister will be meeting survivors on Thursday and will take urgent steps to appoint a new chair of the Inquiry.

Mr Swinney said: “Our priority has always been to support the successful operation of the Inquiry, ensuring it continues to make progress. Sadly, the comments of the chair raised serious concerns.

“The comments made were considered by a leading abuse trauma expert to be totally unacceptable and to indicate a belief system that is incompatible with the post of chair of such an inquiry; to be offensive to survivors and to lack any context in which they could be seen as acceptable. What’s more, these actions had the potential to cause the loss of confidence of survivors – the very people at the heart of the inquiry.”

He added, “Given the severity of those concerns, I felt I had a duty to initiate statutory proceedings which could have led to removal of the chair from post. Ms O’Brien’s resignation clearly now means that process has not been concluded and frees me to now share the facts of the case with Parliament. I am happy for a committee of Parliament to consider this matter and any claims made by the chair.

“This government absolutely rejects any charges of interference in the independence of the inquiry. The issues that concern the government are about having a robust independent inquiry that can operate without fear or favour, fulfilling our responsibilities set out in the Inquiries Act 2005 and other relevant legislation and ensuring that the Chair’s departure has as little impact as possible on the progress of the work needed.

“These events have been very difficult for the team who are conducting the work of the inquiry. We will now initiate a process to recruit a new chair for the inquiry. We are confident that the inquiry staff will continue to deliver the highest quality of work and the Scottish Government will always remain focussed on supporting them as they work on behalf of abuse survivors.”

Ross Greer MSP, Education spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, urged Scottish Ministers to rebuild confidence in the inquiry into historical allegations of child abuse following the departure of its chair.

He said: “This inquiry is of paramount importance, and confidence in it will be severely shaken by the latest departure. Victims of child abuse have waited a long time, and need reassurance that the inquiry will get back on track.

“Having spoken with the Education Secretary about the situation, I believe we need to make urgent but careful progress in appointing new members of the inquiry. This issue has support from across the political spectrum and we owe it to survivors of abuse to make sure the inquiry is carried out.”