Child abuse victims are facing cruel and unfair treatment due to delays in Scottish Government system, warns survivor
Child abuse victims are being treated “cruelly and unfairly” due to delays in a Scottish Government compensation scheme, a survivor has warned.
Official figures suggest that only one-third of redress program applications were processed by caseworkers.
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A survivor said the £5million-a-year Quango introduced by SNP ministers in December 2021 would “abandon” those who have suffered horrific abuse.
George McDonald, 50, who was victimized while being cared for in the 1980s, said: “It’s cruel and unfair.
“Not one person at Redress Scotland seems to care how you feel.
“Hundreds of survivors are being abandoned.”
The system provides compensation for persons under the age of 18 who were abused before December 1, 2004.
It makes one-off payments of between £10,000 and £100,000 and offers recognition, apologies and therapeutic support to survivors.
However, statistics suggest that out of more than 2,100 applications, fewer than 700 have been forwarded to Redress Scotland.
And by the end of March, only 547 redress requests had been decided.
Mr McDonald, from Kirkcaldy, said in his application sent to Redress Scotland in December 2022 he “did everything right”.
He said: “In June 2023 my application was sent to the Redress Scotland panel and after eight weeks it is in a stack of applications still waiting to be considered.”
A spokesman for Redress Scotland said: “Currently it is taking longer than our target of 30 working days to reach a decision.
“Redress Scotland is taking steps to address this issue.”
Scottish Tory MP Jamie Greene said: “Stories like George’s were too commonplace.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Applications are processed at different speeds depending on how complete they are, whether information is available and whether verification is required.”
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