Ministers have commissioned a major inquiry into the use of violence against children under the protection of social services since 1945.

The decision follows a six month pilot study involving adults who had been fostered or placed in a children’s home and which found sufficient evidence of ‘serious and long-lasting’ physical abuse for a major research project.

In total, some 200 people contacted the researchers, leading commission chairman Micha de Winter to say last year he was shocked by the ‘intensity of the suffering’ which was being reported.

‘We will have to come up with a clear definition of violence, including psychological violence,’ he said on Tuesday. ‘How often did it happen, was it acceptable, what was the experience of the child.’

The research will take two years and should be supplemented by a formal registration point where victims can report their experiences, De Winter said.

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn said the reports of the pilot study are shocking. ‘It is a clear and sad conclusion,’ he said. ‘As ministers, we want to get to the bottom of this, in the interests of the victims and practices in the future.’