Phase 1 hearings for the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will resume today, Tuesday 31 October, in Edinburgh.
In this part of Phase 1 investigations, the Inquiry will hear evidence from witnesses relating to local authority child care services (over a combined period spanning the 1950s to the 1990s) and a former Chief Social Work Advisor and Chief Social Work Inspector.
The Inquiry will also hear from experts on the treatment of children and young persons under state regulation of their residence and the Inspection Report 1930-68.
This phase of hearings is expected to last the course of the week, taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A detailed running order can be found in the notes to editors below, alongside a list of those granted leave to appear for this Phase 1 continuation.
Hearings will take place in Edinburgh at the Inquiry’s hearing venue, situated on the 3rd floor of Rosebery House, 9 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 5EZ.
The evidence given at the hearings will supplement written statements taken from witnesses in advance and documents which have been recovered by the Inquiry team during the course of investigations.
The hearings venue will open to the public at 9.30am each day of hearings, ahead of a 10am start. At 11:30 am there will be a 15 minute break. The morning session will conclude at 1pm and then break for an hour for lunch. The afternoon session will run from 2pm until 4pm with the hearing venue closing at 4.30pm.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the hearings. There is no reserved seating in the public area and it is not necessary to notify the Inquiry of attendance in advance. Further information about public access can be found on the Inquiry’s website.
For those not able to attend hearings, a word-for-word transcript will be available for each hearing day on the Inquiry website. Sign language interpretation is now also available.