Details onchild abuse inquiry

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has announced details of the first phase of its hearings which will begin next month in Edinburgh.

Perthshire private school Morrison’s Academy, as well as Perth’s Nimmo Place and Colonsay House – run by the local authority but now closed – have been identified as part of the inquiry into historical child abuse.

The Crieff private school’s involvement surrounds its time as a boarding school.

The inquiry before the Rt Hon Lady Smith will begin on May 31 at Rosebery House in Edinburgh, starting with expert witnesses.

This will form phase one of the probe which will resume later in the year.

The inquiry has also published an application form for ‘leave to appear’ at the oral hearings on its website. Leave to appear is the process by which people who want to actively participate in hearings request the chair’s permission to do so. Participation can include being able to provide questions for the inquiry counsel to ask witnesses and/ or being able to ask questions of witnesses directly.

The deadline for people who wish to be involved in the first phase of oral hearings to apply for leave to appear is April 18. Applications must be submitted to the inquiry via email or post by this date.

Applicants must show that they have a direct or substantial interest in the scope and purpose of the hearings to be given leave to appear.

For those not able to attend oral hearings, a word-for-word transcript will be available at the end of each hearing day through the Inquiry website, www.childabuseinquiry.scot A statue in the Blair Castle gardens