THE independent inquiry into the Church's handling of reports of alleged sexual abuse by a former Dean of Manchester will be led by Her Honour Judge Sally Cahill QC, the Archbishop of York announced on Monday, writes Madeleine Davies.

Dr Sentamu first announced the inquiry in May, after a joint investigation by The Times in London and The Australian newspaper in Sydney revealed that allegations of abuse perpetrated by the Very Revd Robert Waddington had been made in 1999 and in 2003 (News, 17 May). It was reported that a former Archbishop of York, the Rt Revd Lord Hope of Thornes, had removed the Dean's permission to officiate in 2005, but had not reported the allegations to the police or child-protection authorities.

Judge Cahill will be assisted by Joe Cocker, an independent social-work consultant. Nicola Harding, solicitor, and registrar of the diocese of Ripon & Leeds, will act as secretary.

The inquiry will "seek to establish what information suggesting that Robert Waddington had committed sexual abuse was made known to whom in the Church of England and when". It will examine how relevant child-protection policies were or were not applied between 1999 and 2005 by the diocese of Mancheser and Lord Hope, and whether the handling of allegations might have been different if the current safeguarding policies had been in place. The team will work in liaison with church authorities in Australia. The inquiry will report by the end of October, and the findings will be made public.

Persons who may have information relevant to the inquiry are invited to contact Mrs Harding at Tunnard & Co Solicitors, Cathedral Chambers, 4 Kirkgate, Ripon HG4 1PA, email: njh@tunnardsolicitors.com.