Update from Martin Henry, Chair of Independent Review of Sexual Abuse in Scottish football:

It is appropriate to update on the work undertaken since the review was commissioned in early February.

After the approval of the Terms of Reference by the Scottish FA Board, we have put together a review team with the necessary complementary skills to conduct such a wide-reaching review.

I am delighted to be joined in this process by Ruth Sills, Development Manager of Children 1st, Mark Cooper, a retired Detective Superintendent with Police Scotland, and supported by our executive assistant, Bruce Nicol, an Occupational Psychologist with extensive experience in business management.

We have now concluded the preparatory work for our review, which has incorporated the confirmation of our administrative process, the completion of a scoping exercise, as well as assigning roles and responsibilities for the team.

We now approach the crucial yet sensitive stage of information gathering. I would like to call on all relevant stakeholders within Scottish football to give their full and unencumbered co-operation to this part of the review, in order that we can establish as full a picture as possible.

We also wish to ensure that survivors are given as much support as possible and in this regard, I would like to thank the Scottish FA for its work through the Children’s Wellbeing department and with other partner agencies.

We anticipate this stage taking place throughout the summer, with a view to evaluation of evidence and the writing of the report commencing in late Autumn.

It is our intention to present the final report to the Board of the Scottish FA and publish in full in early 2018.

I cannot stress enough the importance of taking the appropriate time and consideration to provide a meaningful review, to learn lessons from the past but also to provide recommendations to ensure Scottish football is at the forefront of children’s wellbeing and protection now and in the future.

The independent review team will work tirelessly on behalf of every survivor to achieve that aim.