Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the possibility of a conflict of interest arising from the appointment of Dru Sharpling as a member of the panel considering the Janner strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and her previous appointment as a Crown Prosecutor.

As required by the Inquiries Act 2005, inquiry panel members must notify the Minister of any issues that might affect their eligibility for appointment, such as their ability to be impartial. In March 2017, following confirmation of the investigative strands that the Inquiry would pursue, Dru Sharpling wrote to then Home Secretary to provide details of her career and stating her belief that this would not affect impartiality. The then Home Secretary replied confirming that she was satisfied that none of the information provided could be said to affect the panel’s impartiality.

These letters are available on the IICSA website - https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/1361/view/copy-2017-03-01-letter-from-dru-sharpling-to-home-secretary-re-further-declaration-interest.pdf and https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/1362/view/copy-2017-03-20-letter-from-home-secretary-to-dru-sharpling-re-further-declaration-interest.pdf.