Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the appropriateness of the use by the Metropolitan Police Service of limitation periods as a defence against legal claims from those who suffered sexual abuse as children by Metropolitan Police Service officers.

While the Government is unable to comment on individual cases or ongoing legal proceedings, it is currently considering responses to a public consultation on a recommendation by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse that the limitation period should be removed for civil claims brought by victims and survivors of child sexual abuse; and that the burden of proof should be reversed in child sexual abuse civil cases so that an action can proceed unless the defendant can satisfy the court that it is not possible for a fair hearing to take place. A Government response will be issued in due course.