Swinney says Government unable to intervene in who chairs child abuse inquiry

The Government has “no locus” to intervene in who chairs the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, John Swinney has said after a group of survivors called for Lady Smith to step down.

In a letter to the First Minister, 28 former pupils of private schools accused Lady Smith of “thinly veiled favouritism” to the institutions, and called on Mr Swinney to remove her as the head of the statutory inquiry.

The inquiry has strongly disputed the suggestion of bias and says Lady Smith must consider the “wide range of evidence” presented to her.

Lady Smith’s inquiry, which was established in 2015, has taken evidence on a number of private schools around Scotland along with other institutions in which young people suffered abuse.

Mr Swinney was asked about the survivors’ letter as he spoke to journalists on Wednesday, saying he would consider it carefully.

He said: “The first thing I want to say is that I value the contribution they’ve made.

“I admire the courage that they’ve demonstrated in articulating their circumstances and cases to the child abuse inquiry and also publicly.”

He said the independent nature of the inquiry means the Government has “no locus” to intervene, noting other survivors’ groups do not want Lady Smith to step down.

Mr Swinney said: “I respect the fact that people are articulating these concerns, and I will consider them.

“But I have to make it clear that I’m considering them within a very limited legal framework of what’s the ability of Government to act on those questions once we established a public inquiry.”