CHILD ABUSE IN WALES (No. 3)

That this House notes the persistent failure of Gwynedd County Council properly to investigate the hundreds of allegations of child abuse made against its staff and others; deplores that its normal response to such allegations was to punish the messenger; recognises the outrage felt by victims that the scandal of Gwynedd children's homes remains untold, and that those responsible have not been called to account and the perpetrators remain unpunished; notes the astonishing incompetence of the Welsh Office in failing to inspect any children's homes in North Wales for nearly 20 years, and the repeated denials of Welsh Office ministers over many years that anything was wrong; is appalled at the refusal of the Welsh Office Ministers to meet senior officers and council members from Clwyd to discuss the matter, despite repeated requests; believes that this demonstrates uneblievable dereliction of duty; considers that the Government should implement immediately the Piggott Report which recommended in 1989 more humane ways for children to give evidence in court of minimise their trauma; and believes that the national inquiry must recognise that organised child sex abuse can occur throughout the United Kingdom, not just in children's homes or in the care system generally, but wherever there are children.