§ 6. Linda Gilroy (Plymouth, Sutton)What action the Government are taking to protect children and young people who are affected by domestic violence. [125468]
§ 12. Dr. Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes, South-West)What steps the Government are taking to provide further support to the victims of domestic violence, with particular reference to children. [125476]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Miss Melanie Johnson)Local authority social services departments make a child and family assessment, undertaken according to the framework for the assessment of children in need and their families, and provide services in the light of the outcome of that assessment. Those services should be tailored to the individual needs, including protection needs, of the child, just as they should be for any child in need.
The Government are determined to prevent domestic violence happening or recurring, and to protect and support all victims of domestic violence. Their strategy for tackling domestic violence and for dealing with children who are victims is set out in the consultation paper, "Safety and Justice: The Government's Proposals on Domestic Violence", which was published in June.
§ Linda GilroyI thank my hon. Friend the Minister for that reply. Perhaps she accepts that child contact is one of the most challenging issues that needs to be dealt with. Will she work with colleagues to ensure that, in the work of children's committees, children's safety is put first when domestic violence cases come before courts? Does she agree that what we most need to hear about in response to that consultation document, "Safety and Justice", is people's concerns and ideas on how we can improve our policies on that subject?
§ Miss JohnsonMy hon. Friend makes some useful points about the focus in policy, which reflects the focus in the "Safety and Justice" paper. Guidelines have been produced for the courts and professionals on how to deal with child contact and domestic violence issues. 146WH Also, funding has been provided for child contact centres. We recognise the need to go on working with victims to make sure that they are put at the front of the issue, and to increase the legal protection available to them and their families.
§ Dr. StarkeyMy question is directed primarily at the Minister for Children. What advice is given to local education authorities on children who have to move because their families are victims of domestic violence? What is the advice to local education authorities on maintaining educational continuity and, if necessary, providing transport, so that children can continue to go to the school that they attend, even if they have been forced to move in order to remove themselves from domestic violence?
§ The Minister for Children (Margaret Hodge)My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the fact that continuity for children in their schooling is crucial, particularly when they have experienced emotional upheaval as a result of domestic violence, separation and moving away from home. One of the advantages of the new department for children, young people and families will be that we can provide a more coherent and integrated response to children's needs, both through the education service and teachers and through the coming together of those people with others.
We announced the first 35 children's trusts last week. They will pool the previously separate budgets for education, social services and health at a local level, and I hope that they will also include services, such as Connexions and the youth offending teams. Bringing all those together will allow a more coherent response to the child's needs.
§ Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham)First, I declare an interest as the patron of Brighton's women refuge. Proceedings today are slightly confusing, because a lot of questions seem to have dropped out and others are not based on those printed on the Order of Business.
I remind the Minister that three out of five children suffering from abuse have mothers who are experiencing domestic violence; that in nine out of 10 cases, children are present in the same or next room while violence is going on; and that children who have witnessed violence are more likely to be either abusers or victims themselves.
In the light of such statistics, schools are often best placed to detect incidences of abuse or violence in domestic scenarios. Indeed, the failure of schools to detect such abuse has been the basis of some of the worst cases of child death. What guidance is in place for a joined-up approach between teachers, school nurses and social workers to spot children who may be the victims of abuse, and to spot the mothers—in some cases, fathers—of those children, who may be subject to domestic violence but who have not presented themselves to the authorities? Women who are subject to domestic violence approach 11 different agencies, on average, before receiving the help that they need.
§ Margaret HodgeThe Education Act 2002 places a duty on education authorities to protect children at risk, 147WH including those at risk of witnessing or experiencing domestic violence. The hon. Gentleman will know that information sharing, which is central to minimising the risk of abuse or harm to young children, is the subject of a number of experiments being conducted by local government and funded by us. Information sharing will be critical. He will also accept that the proposals that arose from the inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié will strengthen some relationships at local level. I draw his attention to the development of children's funds, which will provide a more coherent, cross-professional response to children's needs, bringing in the education services and others.
§ Miss JohnsonThe hon. Gentleman's made some useful points about the number of people with whom women have contact before they receive help. 30 per cent. of domestic violence starts during pregnancy. If abuse has started, it often intensifies during pregnancy. The recommendations of the latest confidential inquiry into maternal deaths, published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in 2001, underline the importance of initiating work with pregnant women. In response, the Department of Health is funding a pilot of antenatal screening for domestic violence at the North Bristol NHS Trust, in which 80 community-based midwives were recruited in the hope of detecting abuse of women earlier in the domestic violence cycle and of providing more support and intervention at that stage.
§ Mr. LoughtonI am grateful that the new Minister for Children responded to my question. Will she confirm that she will be taking such matters under her wing in her new Ministry? Will she give more detail about how they will be approached in the Green Paper because, despite having a debate yesterday, we still have no answers. We received more answers to the questions that we asked yesterday by reading the leaked Government documents in The Times today.
The point about sharing information, which is crucial and about which I asked the Minister several questions yesterday, has not been answered. As the law stands, information sharing still cannot take place. Will she give a firm commitment to the House that that matter will be dealt with properly and in detail, when the Green Paper is eventually published, hopefully on the first day back in September?
§ Margaret HodgeAs the hon. Gentleman knows from last night's debate, we continue to implement all possible action that is necessary to improve information sharing. It is central to supporting better child protection practices throughout the country, particularly in local authority areas. In May we issued guidance to all relevant bodies to improve understanding of what information can be shared under human rights legislation. That guidance has already gone out and we shall be taking further steps. Pilots are being conducted on how information and computer technology can facilitate information sharing and flag up circumstances where children have come to the attention of different people or authorities in different circumstances. We need to see how those pilots work before deciding how best to implement them at national level.
148WH The hon. Gentleman started by talking about the role of teachers. The Department for Education and Skills has introduced a number of initiatives in that regard. Under the healthy schools standard, we look for evidence that issues of child protection and domestic violence are covered. Under citizenship education, which we introduced, we look for information to be given. Before taking on our new responsibilities, we published an information pack for those who work with young people and in particular for teachers, so that they are more aware of what to consider and who to tell when they find evidence of abuse.
§ Mr. Andrew Love (Edmonton)I apologise for being late, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Domestic violence is a major cause of homelessness, which is an acute problem in London and the rest of the south-east because of the shortage of affordable accommodation. A series of support services is available for those who are placed in temporary accommodation and refuges, but only 15 per cent. of homeless families are placed in refuges. The others go into other forms of temporary accommodation, which are often far away from the communities from which they originate. How can we ensure that the support services available to families in other forms of temporary accommodation are as good as those in refuges?
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Yvette Cooper)I can answer that question. My hon. Friend is right to say that people go into a variety of types of accommodation. To follow up the question asked by the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond), I can clarify that of those who were accepted as homeless and in priority need because of domestic violence, 15 per cent. went into refuges, 25 per cent. were staying with friends or relatives, 13 per cent. were in temporary council or housing association properties, 13 per cent. were in hostels and 6 per cent. were in bed-and-breakfast hotels.
My hon. Friend is right to say that the quality of the provision of additional support in women's refuges can be considerable. Obviously, the support available will be different in different types of accommodation, but the supporting people programme provides councils with £1.4 billion overall to pay for additional support for those with particular needs who are in supported accommodation. Of that, £34 million is spent in relation to domestic violence, which can include all sorts of support or the specialist additional support that is needed in other types of temporary accommodation. Local authorities can also provide different types of specialist support in different ways for those in various forms of accommodation.
I referred to the work being done in Harrow in London, which involves an innovative approach that includes providing help for people to stay in their own homes and other expert support for people in different types of accommodation. My hon. Friend is right—we must respond to the particular concerns or needs of an individual family and not expect one size or approach to suit all.
§ Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park)The Minister will know that the best-laid plans often fail because of a 149WH shortage of social workers and other professional staff, and the money to make necessary interventions to stop violence. What plans does she have to increase the number of social workers and the resources to pay for them? Will she tell us whether she intends specifically to target money for children who are victims of violence and live in refuges?
§ Margaret HodgeWe have already increased our investment in the social work force, but I accept the hon. Lady's point that there is a shortage of social workers. One of the key challenges faced by our new Department is how to encourage more people into social work, train them effectively and retain them. One of my ambitions As to raise the status of and value given to social workers in society and ensure that the esteem in which they are held marries with the difficult job that we ask of them.
We ran a national campaign to recruit more social workers. We invested more money and I am pleased to say that the number of people training to be social workers has gone up by 6.5 per cent. We are moving in the right direction, but that does not take away from the challenges that the hon. Lady knows that we face in our communities and throughout the work force. That is one of the central issues that I must tackle. Children who have witnessed or experienced domestic violence must be a priority group on whom we focus resources.
§ Mr. Julian Brazier (Canterbury)I pay tribute to the excellent work of the Rising Sun women's refuge in my constituency, which I was privileged to visit last month. We must get to the roots underlying domestic violence. The role of substance abuse, in particular of alcohol and drugs, in domestic violence is large. Whatever the difficulties in reporting the issues of the huge recorded increase in violence against women, including domestic violence, in this morning's press, the figures for substance abuse—for example the double digit increase in several categories of drug abuse—are absolutely undeniable. I suggest to Ministers that one way to tackle the scourge of domestic violence and child abuse early in the process is to identify drug addicts and alcoholics at a young age, and make many more places available for treatment.
§ Miss JohnsonI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making those points. They resonate with the current situation and the Government's work on drugs, including investment in, and a strategy of, identifying drug misuse early and ensuring that it is effectively dealt with, both through the courts and through providing support and treatment to help addicts get off drugs.
I also alert the hon. Gentleman to the alcohol harm reduction strategy. Work is being carried out by the Prime Minister's strategy unit and will soon be published. It will provide a strategy on alcohol harm in society, a question that is at least as serious as that of drugs.
Mr. Deputy SpeakerOrder. I allowed the edges to be blurred slightly as we had time available. As we move on, I ask hon. Members to respect the content of the question as far as possible. Otherwise, I may be obliged to call them out of order.