News
29 October, 2021
City of Edinburgh Council unanimously accepts Inquiry team’s Recommendations in the Sean Bell Inquiry
Susanne Tanner QC and the Inquiry Team at Pinsent Masons LLP have published their Open Report in the investigation into allegations concerning the conduct of the late Sean Bell and the way in which historical complaints about him were dealt with by the City of Edinburgh Council at the time that they were made: https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=39781 .
Susanne Tanner QC, the independent chair of the Inquiry, presented the Open Report at the City of Edinburgh Council’s full council meeting on Thursday 28 October (https://edinburgh.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/611512). She stated: “As a team, we have taken our responsibility to investigate these important issues extremely seriously. From the start, we committed to carrying out a survivor-led inquiry focused wholeheartedly on giving survivors a voice and safeguarding their welfare and that of others vulnerable to abuse. With that in mind, our sincere thanks go to the survivors who have remained the priority throughout our inquiry process and we thank them for taking the difficult but important step of contacting the inquiry to share their experiences.”
The council unanimously accepted the Inquiry Team’s recommendations in full, including the implementation of an independent unit of appropriately experienced and properly trained investigators to investigate all allegations of a sexual nature, domestic abuse, physical violence, stalking or harassment; and a redress scheme to compensate those who were abused by Sean Bell.