The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, published

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), chaired by Professor Alexis Jay, published its final report on 20 October 2022 after a seven-year investigation. It examined how institutions in England and Wales failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The report highlighted systemic issues, including institutional denial, victim-blaming, poor data collection, inadequate safeguarding, and failures in the justice system response.
The Inquiry made 20 recommendations for England (with some also relevant to Wales, plus separate Welsh recommendations). These complement 87 earlier recommendations from its 19 investigation reports. The three "centrepiece" recommendations emphasised by the Inquiry and survivors are:
Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.
A national redress scheme (financial compensation) for victims and survivors let down by institutions.
Establishment of a Child Protection Authority (CPA) for England (and one for Wales) to provide independent oversight, drive improvements, and monitor implementation.
Overview of the 20 Recommendations
The recommendations are grouped thematically in the final report (Part K). Key ones include:
Improving understanding of the scale of child sexual abuse:
Create a single core set of national data on child sexual abuse and exploitation (including age, sex, ethnicity of victims/perpetrators, locations, and vulnerability factors).
Better collation by social care, criminal justice, and other agencies.
Prioritising protection of children:
Appoint a Cabinet-level Minister for Children to give focused leadership.
Establish Child Protection Authorities for England and Wales to oversee safeguarding, coordinate responses, and hold institutions accountable.
Launch a public awareness campaign on child sexual abuse, including how to report suspicions.
Empowering children and young people:
Strengthen protections for children with additional needs, looked-after children, and those in custody or residential care.
Amend the Children Act 1989 for better parity of legal protection in care settings.
Register and regulate staff in children's homes (secure and non-secure) with fitness-to-practise oversight.
Prohibit certain pain compliance/restraint techniques in custodial settings.
Creating a more protective environment:
Remove supervision exemptions from regulated activity definitions (to ensure higher-level DBS checks apply more broadly).
Improve vetting, training, and standards in institutions working with children.
Identifying and reporting child sexual abuse:
Introduce statutory mandatory reporting: Certain professionals and those in regulated activity with children must report known or suspected abuse (disclosures from child/perpetrator, witnessed abuse, or recognised indicators). Failure or obstruction would carry consequences.
Justice system response:
Make grooming a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing for child sexual offences (leading to potentially longer sentences).
Other improvements to police, CPS, and court processes for child sexual abuse cases.
Supporting victims and survivors:
Establish a national redress scheme for financial compensation where institutions failed to protect children.
Improve access to therapeutic support and other services.
Addressing evolving challenges:
Tackle online-facilitated abuse (e.g., pre-screening for known child sexual abuse material by tech platforms).
Respond to emerging risks like AI-generated material or organised exploitation.
The full list and detailed wording are available on the official IICSA website (iicsa.org.uk/recommendations.html and the final report executive summary).