Today, the [Scottish Parliament’s] Public Petitions Committee supported PE1979 by keeping it open and agreeing actions to progress our petition’s calls.
Christine Scott
Christine Scott is a former community programme manager at Castlebrae Community High School in Edinburgh who became a prominent advocate for whistleblowers raising concerns about child protection and safeguarding.
In 2014, she made a public-interest disclosure concerning allegations that a head teacher had had a sexual relationship with an under-age pupil, and subsequently supported other whistleblowers bringing forward safeguarding concerns.
Scott was among those who challenged the 2021 Tanner inquiry into Edinburgh City Council’s handling of former social worker Sean Bell, who died at the foot of Salisbury Crags while facing charges of historic sexual assault, domestic abuse and rape. She and other whistleblowers described the report as a whitewash, arguing that senior managers had not been properly held to account.
In 2022, she helped lead calls for a wider public inquiry into child protection and safeguarding in Edinburgh, after whistleblowers brought forward further allegations. She subsequently became one of the PE1979 petitioners to the Scottish Parliament calling for an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services.
Update from the petitioners of PE1979 (to establish an inquiry and independent national whistleblowing office to investigate alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries)
PE1979/QQ: Establish an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing office to investigate concerns about the alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries by public bodies This submission provides background for new committee members and responds to the Scottish Government submission of 19 August 26.
Sign the petition! PE1979: Establish an independent inquiry and an independent national whistleblowing officer to investigate concerns about the alleged mishandling of child safeguarding enquiries by public bodies
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to launch an independent inquiry to examine: concerns that allegations about child protection, child abuse, safeguarding, and children’s rights have been mishandled by public bodies, including local authorities and the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS); gaps in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry; and establish an independent national whistleblowing officer for Education and Children’s Services in Scotland to handle these enquiries in the future.
Former Edinburgh councillor Alison Dickie and whistleblower Christine Scott petition MSPs over child abuse
Former Edinburgh SNP councillor Alison Dickie, together with ex-Labour councillor Bill Cook, whistleblower Christine Scott and former teacher Neil McLennan have lodged a petition at the Scottish Parliament, pressing for a public investigation into the alleged mishandling of unresolved child abuse and child protection concerns; a national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services; and closure of “serious gaps” in the current Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
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