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Dickens dossier still missing in sex abuse scandal case

A review into how the Home Office handled historic child sex abuse allegations in the 1980s has been unable to uncover crucial missing files, it has been reported.

BBC Newsnight cited sources claiming that the so-called Dickens dossier, handed to the Home Office by former Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens, had not been located.

The Home Office declined to comment on the claim, reiterating that the report of the review, led by NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless, is to be published next week.

Former home secretary Lord Brittan has strenuously denied failing to deal with the dossier provided by Mr Dickens properly when he received it in 1983 properly.

A review carried out by a HMRC official last year found no evidence that relevant material was not passed to other authorities.

But it also disclosed that the Dickens file appeared to have been destroyed — and the permanent secretary at the Home Office, Mark Sedwill, has since revealed that 114 files deemed potentially relevant are missing.

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