National child sex abuse inquiry counsel Ben Emmerson QC suspended from duty

A spokeswoman for the inquiry dismissed reports that Ben Emmerson had considered resigning from the role

Counsel to child sex abuse inquiry suspended following 'concerns about his leadership' (Getty Images)

The Counsel to the Inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales has been suspended from duty.

A spokeswoman for the independent inquiry said Ben Emmerson QC was suspended after it recently became "very concerned about'' aspects of his leadership.

Mr Emmerson was suspended so the concerns could be “properly investigated”, the spokeswoman added.

Earlier reports suggested Mr Emmerson was considering resigning from the role following rumours of a disagreement with the probe’s new chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay over its future.

The spokeswoman disputed these claims saying: “Suggestions in the press that Mr Emerson was considering resigning after raising disagreements over the future direction of the inquiry are untrue.

“They are not a matter on which he has advised the chair of the inquiry or the panel."

The news is set to be a serious blow for the inquiry, which was set up in 2014 to investigate whether public bodies, including police authorities, have failed to protect children from sexual abuse.

It will also examine abuse involving “well known people”.

The Times had reported that Mr Emmerson favoured reducing the inquiry’s workload , however Professor Jay – who is the inquiry’s fourth chairwoman - said she had “no intention” of asking Home Secretary Amber Rudd to "revise or reduce our terms of reference" but admitted the inquiry’s scale and scope were a "substantial challenge".

Ms Rudd has told MPs she thought "the terms of reference that were set up originally were the right ones".

The scale of the sweeping probe has increasingly come under the spotlight. Described as the most ambitious public inquiry ever launched in England and Wales, it is running a string of investigative strands spanning several decades.

It was initially earmarked to last for five years but there are suggestions it could run for as long as 10.

Following her resignation, former chairwoman Dame Lowell Goddard said there was an "inherent problem" in the inquiry's "sheer scale and size".

The inquiry spent £14.7 million out of a £17.9 million budget in 2015/16.

Mr Emmerson, who represented the widow of Alexander Litvinenko at the inquiry into the death of the poisoned spy, is a deputy High Court judge and leading international lawyer.

Announcing his appointment in 2014, Mrs May described Mr Emmerson as "one of the UK's most distinguished lawyers in the field of national and international human rights law".

Professor Jay previously led an inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

Additional reporting by Press Association