SCOUT ASSOCIATION APOLOGISES AFTER BBC INVESTIGATION INTO CHILD ABUSE

The BBC reported that the Scout Association and individual scoutmasters have paid £897,000 in damages, with £567,000 contributed to this amount by the charity, according to lawyers for the claimants. This figure has also been disputed by the charity, which says that in the period of October 2012 to December 2014 it paid around £500,000 in compensation to victims of abuse.

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http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/18734/scout_association_apologises_over_historical_child_abuse_claims?topic=&print=1

Scout Association apologises over historical child abuse claims

Governance | Alice Sharman | 11 Dec 2014

The Scout Association has issued an apology following a BBC investigation which revealed that the charity had made substantial pay-outs to victims of sexual abuse.
BBC news reported last night that 56 people have instructed solicitors to sue the Scout Association for historic abuse since the Jimmy Saville scandal emerged. These figures have been disputed by the Scout Association, who said in a statement that since the movement started in 1907, 48 civil actions relating to child abuse had been made against the Association. Of these, it says, 36 civil actions have been instigated since October 2012, with all actions relating to historic cases.
The charity also said that, like other charities, organisations and institutions, it has experienced an increase in reported historic cases since 2012.
The BBC reported that the Scout Association and individual scoutmasters have paid £897,000 in damages, with £567,000 contributed to this amount by the charity, according to lawyers for the claimants. This figure has also been disputed by the charity, which says that in the period of October 2012 to December 2014 it paid around £500,000 in compensation to victims of abuse.
However, lawyers told the BBC that some claims started before October 2012, while others began after that date.
In a statement the Scout Association said: “We apologise to all those who have been abused during their time in Scouting. The safety and support of young people in Scouting is our number one priority. Any abuse of young people is abhorrent and we are deeply sorry for anybody hurt by the actions of abusers. We strive to ensure these abuses do not take place.”
It went on to say that “in appropriate circumstances we want to ensure victims of abuse receive compensation in a timely manner. This is the right thing to do. We have never used gagging orders to silence those who have been abused.”

Police not told

The BBC reported on cases of historic sex abuse involving scoutmasters, both of which were said not to have been passed on to the police.
In one example an alleged victim, who has not been identified, said he was abused by a scoutmaster in the early 1980s and received compensation of £45,000 in 2011. The scoutmaster was investigated by police years later, but killed himself before the trial began.
However the BBC said it “understands the association forced the scoutmaster to resign in the mid-1980s after reports of inappropriate behaviour with scout members. The police were not told of the allegations until people alleging abuse came forward a decade later”.
The Scout Association responded saying that the fact that the abuser was not reported to the police was "an inappropriate and unacceptable response to that situation", but added: "It was an extremely rare incidence."
David McClenaghan, a lawyer at Bolt Burden Kemp who represents many child sex abuse claimants, told the BBC: "I know from my own experience from seeing police files on investigations into sexual abuse within the Scout Association that many of those people who have been victims of abuse choose not to bring compensation claims forward."
"It's only a very small fraction of people that go on to bring a case against the Scout Association. In terms of figures, 50 is absolutely the tip of the iceberg and the reality is that there are many, many more people who have suffered abuse in the Scout Association."
Elfyn Llwyd, MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said that if the records of abuse complaints were not published there should be a public inquiry.

Safeguarding processes

The Scout Association has explained that before the advent of computers, it operated a paper based reference system “designed to prevent those who sought to harm young people from becoming volunteers with the movement”. It added that once the criminal records disclosure scheme became operational it made use of the system, even playing an “important role in supporting the original implementation of the scheme during the trial stage of the system’s development”.
It also said its safeguarding processes were reviewed in 2009 by the NSPCC, and that more recently it offered advice to the Scouts Association on where and how its vetting and appeals process “interacts with the criminal records disclosure scheme”. It also said that all of its 100,000 leaders have to undergo “compulsory safeguarding training”.
The charity said that earlier this year it began work to review its membership files, adding that any issues of concern that “need to be reported to the police will be referred immediately”.

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