Financial redress for historical child abuse: consultation summary

Section 1:  Purpose and principles of the redress scheme

(Please see Questions 1 and 2 in the Respondent Information Form)

Purpose

It is clear that in the past there were failings in the system of caring for children, when children were looked after by institutions or bodies instead of by their parents.  

We would like to know what you think about the following wording to describe the purpose of the financial redress scheme:

“to acknowledge and respond to the harm that was done to children who were abused in care in the past in residential settings in Scotland where institutions and bodies had long-term responsibility for the care of the child in place of the parent”.

Principles

We want to know what you think about the following principles to guide the design and delivery of the redress scheme:

• to ensure that redress is delivered with honesty, decency, trust and integrity;
• to make the scheme as accessible as possible;
• to treat applicants with fairness and respect and to offer them choice wherever possible;
• to ensure that the assessment and award process is robust and credible;
• to make every effort to minimise the potential for further harm through the process of applying for redress.