Rotherham sex inquiry chief to replace Dame Lowell Goddard

Professor Alexis Jay, who led the inquiry into abuse in Rotherham, has been named the new chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales.

She replaces Dame Lowell Goddard, the New Zealand judge who resigned suddenly days after the inquiry’s preliminary hearings commenced. She had been criticised over the size of her salary and other benefits, and the amount of time she had spent overseas while in post.

Professor Jay, who has become the fourth head of the IICSA, had sat on the inquiry’s advisory panel. She was awarded an OBE in 2012 for services to children and families and, as head of the Rotherham abuse inquiry, reported in 2014 that at least 1,400 children in the town were subject to sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013.

She has the backing of victims’ groups. Peter Saunders, the founder of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) who sits on the inquiry’s Victims and Survivors’ Consultative Panel, told The Tablet last week that the inquiry’s panellists had won survivors’ trust.

Professor Jay said: “I am committed to ensuring this inquiry does everything it has set out to do and does so with pace, with confidence and with clarity. Be in no doubt – the inquiry is open for business and people are busier than ever working hard to increase momentum. The Panel and I are determined to make progress on all parts of the inquiry’s work, including speaking to victims and survivors.

“I am determined to overcome the challenges along the way. I will lead the largest public inquiry of its kind and together with my fellow Panel members we will fearlessly examine institutional failures, past and present and make recommendations so that the children of England and Wales are better protected now and in the future.”

The inquiry held a preliminary hearing for its investigation into the Catholic Church last month. The details of further hearings will be announced in due course.