The child sexual abuse inquiry will investigate whether Cyril Smith targeted boys in Rochdale care homes but will not be required to make “specific findings” against the dead former Liberal MP.
Brian Altman QC, the lead counsel to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA), said it would focus on the authorities’ response to allegations against Smith, who died in 2010.
Smith has been accused of sexually abusing children at Knowl View school and Cambridge House boys’ hostel in Rochdale. Children were placed in care at the two institutions, which were under the guidance of Rochdale borough council.
He served as a local councillor, switching between Labour and the Liberals before becoming mayor; Smith represented Rochdale in parliament from 1972 to 1992.
Altman told a preliminary IICSA hearing on Wednesday that the Rochdale hearings, which are scheduled to start in October, would “not require … that the panel makes specific findings against Cyril Smith”.
The approach taken during the investigation into the late Greville Janner would be adopted, Altman said, where “findings of fact as to whether an individual may have sexually abused children may be appropriate, but only where such findings first are relevant to the discharge of the inquiry’s overall terms of reference”.
Part of the reason for that approach, he said, was because of the “inability of Cyril Smith to respond to those allegations”.
Altman continued: “What the inquiry is interested in this regard is the extent to which a public figure like Cyril Smith may have been able to target young men who lived [at Cambridge House] , the reasons why he may have gone unchecked and how he was able to remain at the centre of public life in Rochdale despite awareness of the part of some of the allegations against him.
“The inquiry will consider as part of that the police investigations into Cyril Smith and why they didn’t result in him being prosecuted.”
Smith’s role in Rochdale borough council, where he was active on many committees involving youth activities, is likely to be another area of interest. An investigation into his behaviour was under way in 1969 to 1970.
The Rochdale investigation will examine how local political parties responded to Smith during this time, Altman added. Smith was a governor at several schools in the town, including Knowl View.
His career was dogged by rumours he had abused children, but charges were never brought.
The Crown Prosecution Service and Greater Manchester police said in 2012 Smith would have faced prosecution if the allegations had been made then.
Accusations about potential abuse by Smith in Westminster will be covered in a separate strand of the inquiry, Altman said. The Rochdale strand of the inquiry is one of 13 areas of public life being scrutinised for child protection failings, ranging from the army to the Roman Catholic church.
