The lord mayor of the City of London, Fiona WoolfLord mayor chairs probe The lord mayor of the City of London, Fiona Woolf, has been named as the chair of the independent inquiry commissioned by the Government into historic child sex abuse.
Woolf, a leading tax lawyer, takes the place of Baroness Butler-Sloss, who stepped down days after being appointed to chair the inquiry in July, after questions were raised over potential conflicts of interest as her brother Lord Havers was attorney general at the time of some of the events to be investigated.
Professor Alexis Jay, author of the recent report into abuse in Rotherham, will act as an expert adviser to the panel, said the Home Office. The inquiry, announced by Home Secretary Theresa May on July 7, will examine how the country’s institutions handled their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse over a period of decades.
It was prompted by allegations that figures in Westminster and Whitehall were implicated in covering up child sex abuse, and that police and other authorities did not properly investigate prominent offenders such as Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smith.