Jasmine Beckford (Hansard, 30 April 1985)

§ Lord Harris of Greenwich
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)
My Lords, when the independent inquiry into the Jasmine Beckford case has produced its report, the Government will examine it carefully to see whether any lesson can be learnt which might be helpful in improving arrangements for the protection of children. The chief inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate strongly reminded directors of social services on 9th April about their responsibilities in these matters. The report, when published, will be available in the Library of your Lordships' House.

§ Lord Harris of Greenwich
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that reply. Does she not agree that there is increasing public anxiety about the number of such cases, which are receiving a great deal of publicity at the moment? In the light of this, does she not also agree that it is necessary—particularly when a child's life is lost or a child is seriously injured—that there should both be an independent investigation into what happened, and secondly some publication after that investigation as to what went wrong?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, I well know the noble Lord's concern and I am sure we all share his feelings. We can only do our best to take all possible precautions. The awful thing is that public awareness only occurs after some ghastly tragedy has happened. Governments attempt to cover every eventuality and social workers do their best, but still pitiful children suffer. No amount of legislation will prevent or anticipate everything. We can only try even harder.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, is the noble Baroness the Minister aware that many of us are delighted that Mr. Louis Blom-Cooper is chairing the tribunal that will inquire into this terrible happening? Is she aware also that one of the serious problems which children face in these circumstances is the complete shortage of the social workers who should be available to try and look after them? Finally, will she very much have in mind—as I hope that the inquiry will—the complaint made by the foster parents at the trial of Beckford; namely, that the social workers had removed the child against the wishes of the foster parents?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, with regard to the latter part of the noble Lord's question, the guidance used for the criteria when placing children at home is a matter for professional judgment based on the particular circumstances of an individual case.

§ Lord Grimond
My Lords, leaving aside this particular case which is under inquiry, and bearing in mind that the appalling crimes of cruelty to children cannot be dealt with exclusively by the law, nevertheless does it not appear to the Government that the penalties for assaulting and indeed murdering children appear to be very much lighter than those for similar crimes carried out against adults?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, it is up to the individual judge as to what penalty he imposes. I do not believe that it would be right for me to continue answering the noble Lord's question.

§ Baroness Faithfull
My Lords, does my noble friend not agree that although the blame always seems to fall at the door of social workers, nevertheless a case such as this is the responsibility of more than just the social workers? Does she also not agree that what is really required is co-ordinated co-operation between statutory and voluntary bodies, including schools, to deal with such children? Finally, may I ask my noble friend the Minister whether she does not consider it very unfair that some senior social workers have suffered as a result of this particular case, when in fact it is not yet proven that the fault was theirs?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, I think that I entirely agree with the latter part of my noble friend's question.

§ Lord Elwyn-Jones
My Lords, returning to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Grimond, is it not a fact that the defendant in this case had a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment imposed upon him?

§ Baroness Trumpington
That is correct, my Lords.

§ Lord Kilmarnock
My Lords, is the noble Baroness satisfied that sufficient funds are being devoted to the training of social workers with a view to avoiding incidents of this kind in the future?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, whether satisfactory funds are available is one question, but the responsibility for the scope and content of social work training rests with the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work, which keeps the content of such programmes continually under review.

Lord Morris
My Lords, just because a judgment was deemed professional, that does not necessarily mean to say that it was sound. What, if anything, can Her Majesty's Government do about that?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, I hear my noble friend.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, can the Minister tell the House whether there are any figures to show that the situation has deteriorated since about a decade ago when the Seebohm Report was implemented? As a result, children's departments that specialised in the care of children were absorbed into new huge social services departments. Has that not in fact created a deterioration in the service?

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, there are no national statistics on child abuse specifically; but figures are available showing the number of children committed to care under that section of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 dealing with child abuse. Over recent years those figures have remained relatively static. However, a recent NSPCC study of children placed on the child abuse register held by the society showed a consistent decline in the percentage of children who were fatally or seriously injured.