The consultation that was promised in May by former Minister For Schools, Edward Timpson looking into whether there should be a legal duty on child welfare professionals to report suspected child abuse and neglect, has today been launched.
The press release explains that the consultation entitled, “Reporting and acting on child abuse and neglect“, has been designed to:
Set out the government’s wide-ranging programme of reform to provide better outcomes for vulnerable children. It seeks views on the possible introduction of one of 2 additional statutory measures:
- a mandatory reporting duty, which would require certain practitioners or organisations to report child abuse or neglect if they knew or had reasonable cause to suspect it was taking place
- a duty to act, which would require certain practitioners or organisations to take appropriate action in relation to child abuse or neglect if they knew or had reasonable cause to suspect it was taking place
The consultation responds to the aims set out in the Serious Crime Act 2015and tackling child sexual exploitation report, published in March 2015.
The government will consider all responses to the consultation carefully before deciding on next steps.
There has already been much debate surrounding the implementation of a mandatory duty to report, with speculation as to which child welfare professionals might be legally bound by such a duty and what the thresholds for establishing that duty might look like.
If you’d like to explore some of the commentary in this area, Researching Reform wrote an article for Jordans in May of this year looking at countries which already have a duty to report in this context and some emerging data on the pros and cons of this kind of legislation.
If you’re hoping to contribute to this consultation, you can do so:
- Online
- Via email: reportingandacting@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk or;
- By post: Safeguarding Unit, Home Office, 5th Floor, Fry Building, 2 Marsham St, London SW1P 4DF
The consultation closes on 13 October 2016 at 12:00pm.
Researching Reform 
Isn’t this one a no brainer in common law anyway ?? If you fail to report a crime can’t you be charged for failing to report a crime ? Your thoughts Natasha as a qualified law person. Seems like an utterly bizarre thing to debate to me. Or am I wrong?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Grant, thank you for your comment. I’m still working so I’m unable to write at length tonight but if you read the article I wrote for Jordan’s linked to in the post all the angles are looked at x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: BPS ‘The Psychologist’ Censorship? – psychassessmentblog
I just posted six pages on why at present mandatory reporting may be counter-productive:
You can download my ‘purged’ e-letter from this blog URL. Here is my blog entry:
In June 2016 I posted a six page e-letter on the website of BPS publication ‘The Psychologist’. Imagine my surprise that within 10 hours the editor ‘purged’ my posting. What is the point of The Psychologist? A medium for political point scoring and ‘cheap laughs’ or providing a forum for critical debate of serious topics that are matters of life and death?
I was lead to believe that a revised submission may make it into the August edition – alas it was apparently not good enough. Or was it rather the ‘Open Letter’ headline and the reference to ‘cover-up’ of criminality through inadequate mental health assessments?
As I am writing the insatiable Moloch that the dysfunctional family court system represents has claimed another victim.
Natasha raised an interesting issue on Researching Reform:
I agree with the principle idea of a legal duty to report but the harsh reality is stranger than fiction. As long as there is no absolute proof i.e. death, serious injury, DNA or photographic evidence the police will not do much. Even if a child speaks out (often after long periods of incestuous abuse) the Social Services representatives often simply silence the child and protective adults by claiming that the mother has coached the child and demand that the child is removed from the ostensibly ‘mentally ill’ mother, and given to the alleged abuser.
Even in the most harrowing of cases (e.g. North London) some of the most senior Family Court judges simply dismissed abuse disclosures without proper investigation.
However if it comes to Foster Parents eliciting sexual abuse allegation against biological parents ‘it must be true’ as Foster Carers are surely as infallible as social workers, solicitors, judges, psychiatrists and psychologists. ‘The System’ ensures that protective parents are ‘destroyed’ through inadequate Psych reports or worse ‘convicted’ in Kangaroo Courts worthy of a Banana Republic.
How long are Psychologists prepared to ‘look away’? My review of three BPS publications suggests a degree of complicity, complacency and ignorance. Why can we not have a debate? Are there too many vested interests?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally true. Same pattern always.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on National Inquiry into Organised, Orchestrated & Historic Child Sexual Abuse.
LikeLike
There should be a legal obligation on the police to take a statement from any sane adult or child reporting abuse.At present they tend to ignore any reports of abuse by fosterers or by social workers !
LikeLiked by 1 person
100% true.
I still remember that LA Barrister saying in RCJ that state carers are never going to be prosecuted for abuse ” as the state does not take itself to court” and so the children were forced to remain with the “carers” to be raped, tortured, sold for sex etc.
All exited the system mentally ill and long dead were these gifted and talented children- soul dead.
Police knew about it, judges knew, lord justices knew but no one brought the social worker and Guardian and carer to justice.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
LikeLike
I’m still confused – surely this is a no brainer. Point in case, the State institution I was abused at had several reports from children that they chose to ignore. When they finally did something about the pedo they quietly asked for his resignation. He resigned and 3 – 4 months later a father of a child the pedo coached soccer to went to police when his son told him something was wrong. In that time where Gov officials had failed to report a reported pedo this cretin had harmed several other children.
Now in my mind the State employees who failed to report the pedo should be criminally liable because had they reported him several children wouldn’t have been tamped with. What is the dilemma here ? Children don’t make false reports of things they don’t understand unless it either has happened or they are coached into it by an adult. Let’s say though that even if 10% were coached into it and 90% were looking for genuine help surely it is better to have innocent adults have to answer difficult questions than to have innocent children irreparably harmed in the vast majority of cases when they report CSA and that CSA is genuine… I can’t believe after all these years that have gone by since my abuse adults are even debating this. It’s beyond sickening.
LikeLike
Hi Grant, I personally think we should have a legal duty, but I’m offering room for debate.
LikeLike
Hi Natasha sure, it just floors me that it even is a debate in this day and age. Surely this should have been debated perhaps 20 years ago. I wonder how many thousands of children have been abused in that 20 years because adults have no legal duty of care to report suspected abuse.
LikeLike
Pingback: Question It! | Researching Reform