Queen Victoria school is a co-educational, non-denominational, non-selective boarding school in Dunblane, Perthshire, owned and operated by the Ministry of Defence. Following investigations carried out by the Scottish child abuse inquiry, covering the years 1951 to 2021, and as result of the brave actions of former pupils and teachers in coming forward with their testimony, it is clear that lives were blighted by appalling abuse which took place at the school. I wish to pay tribute to those victims and survivors of this abuse, to thank them for their courage in coming forward, and to apologise to them for the abuse that they suffered while in our school.
In addition to the support that MOD personnel and staff at QVS have given to the inquiry, I also want to inform the House that the MOD has joined the Scottish Government redress scheme, which exists to make redress payments to people who were abused while in care as children before 1 December 2004, and some next of kin. The MOD has joined other organisations in committing to making a fair and meaningful contribution towards funding redress payments as part of overall efforts to recognise the harm suffered by individuals in our care and our failure to safeguard them.
In addition to making this statement, we have provided a letter of acknowledgment of harm which will be published on the website of the redress scheme. Details of the MOD’S financial contributions such as are appropriate in terms of protecting anonymity of claimants will be included in annual reporting by the Scottish Government.
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