A TOP independent school in North Yorkshire is to be included in one of three public hearings carried out in the national child sexual abuse inquiry.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSE) has published an internal review, setting out how it intends to proceed with its inquiry under its latest chair Professor Alexis Jay, who took over the role this summer.

The review states that it was reducing the number of public-inquiry style hearings into key institutions to speed up the process and refocus on preventing abuse now and in the future.

It will now hold public hearings into three of its investigations; the Roman Catholic Benedictine Congregation, children outside of the UK and Rochdale Council establishments.

The inquiry into the Roman Catholic Benedictine Congregation - which encompasses Benedictine monastic organisations across the UK, including Ampleforth Abbey and College - will be held in December 2017.

There will be further public hearings the following year into the archdiocese of Birmingham and the wider Catholic church.

The internal review stated the investigation will examine the extent of “any institutional failures to protect children from sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales”. It will include two case studies, the first relating to the English Benedictine Congregation and the second to the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

The review stated that so far more than 4,000 documents have been obtained from abbeys and associated schools at Ampleforth, Belmont, Buckfast, Douai Abbey, Downside, Ealing Abbey, St Mary’s, Stanbrook, Worth and Curzon Park.

It has also gathered material from police forces, the Independent Schools Inspectorate and the Charity Commission.

The IICSE review report stated: “We have also obtained documentation from the Archdiocese of Birmingham, and from the Roman Catholic Church. This material is currently being analysed.

“The inquiry has also undertaken a rapid evidence assessment of the literature and evidence which exists concerning the prevalence of child sexual abuse in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.

“We will request statements from core participants in early 2017. “