CHILD abuse survivors have called on a third key member of a major public inquiry to stand down after a senior judge was appointed to take the lead yesterday.

They feel the position of last remaining expert Glenn Houston is “untenable” after the resignations of former chairwoman Susan O’Brien QC and Professor Michael Lamb from the panel over claims of government interference.

In Care Abuse Survivors (Incas) Scotland said the entire panel should be replaced because Houston had supported O’Brien’s views.

Helen Holland, 57, deputy chairwoman of Incas, received a call from Deputy First Minister John Swinney to tell her about the appointment of Lady Smith as O’Brien’s replacement.

He assured her Smith would bring a “wealth of knowledge and experience” to the leadership of Scottish Government’s controversial inquiry into the abuse of children in care.

Last week The National revealed how Incas had written to Swinney recommending three big names to replace O’Brien.

The group asked him to consider leading English human rights barrister Michael Mansfield or Scottish lawyers Lord Malcolm and Lord McEwan for the top job. However, Holland said that when she asked Swinney whether he had approached them, he didn’t give an answer.

Holland said: “Mr Swinney called me to tell me about the new appointment. We have no idea who she is but I am a bit suspicious that it has only taken four weeks for the government to get a replacement for Susan O’Brien. It concerns me that this is a rushed appointment.

“I know she has been part of domestic abuse panels and is a senior judge but apart from that I don’t know anything about the woman at all. That is the difficulty we have.

“We also don’t know who is going to replace Professor Lamb and you’ve also got Glenn Houston’s position, which, from the survivors’ point of view, is untenable because he has already come out and said he agreed with Susan O’Brien and Professor Lamb that the government was trying to micro-manage the inquiry.

“In our view, if he stays there what he is saying is that it is acceptable.”

She insisted the Scottish Government must take a step back from the inquiry and said the inquiry so far had been “a shambles”.

Swinney praised Smith’s “leadership, independence and sensitivity” and stressed she would carry out her role “without fear or favour”.

Houston, chief executive of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority of Northern Ireland, wrote to Swinney in support of O’Brien.

In her resignation letter, O’Brien said she could “not reassure the public that this inquiry will be conducted independently of government”.

Just days earlier, Lamb stepped down, saying the review was “doomed’’ due to interference by ministers.

Lady Smith, who will take on the role from August 1, stressed that “protection of the innocence and wellbeing of children is of fundamental importance to a healthy society”.

She said: “Sadly, many children placed in residential care in this country have, over a period stretching back years, not been afforded the protection they deserved.

“Their voices now require to be heard and questions of when, where, how and why it happened require to be fully addressed.”

Swinney added: “Her leadership, independence and sensitivity will be key to the inquiry’s progress.”

Profile: Who is Lady Smith?

THE Right Hon Lady Smith was appointed a judge of the Supreme Courts in 2001 and the Inner House in November 2012. Anne Smith graduated with an LLB honours at the University of Edinburgh and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1980.

She was Standing Junior Counsel to the Countryside Commission and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1993. Smith served as a temporary sheriff from 1995 to 1999 and chaired the Scottish Partnership on Domestic Abuse from 1998 to 2000. She served as Advocate Depute from 2000 until she was appointed a judge and served as a member of the Court of Session Rules Council.

Smith also chaired the Advocates Family Law Group and the Advocates Professional Negligence Group. As a judge, Smith has carried out a wide range of judicial duties, including serving as the Scottish Employment Appeal Tribunal judge for eight years between 2004 and 2012, chairing the Scottish Tribunal Forum and the Reserved Tribunals Group.

She was appointed as the first President of the Scottish Tribunals in July 2014. In 1997, Smith was the first woman to appear before the Court of Session in trousers and four years later Donald Findlay QC blamed her for lowering dress standards in court. He said: “The drop in standards began when female lawyers were allowed to wear trousers in court. They are all right for going to Tesco in, but not suitable dress for ladies to wear in court.”

She married David Alexander Smith, a solicitor, in 1979, with whom she has a son and a daughter.

Smith is also known for throwing out the SNP’s bid to use the Court of Session to block a BBC broadcast of the Prime Ministerial debate in the lead up to the 2010 General Election.

The party asked the Court of Session in Edinburgh to rule on whether the corporation had breached its rules on impartiality by excluding the SNP.