§ Mrs. Doris Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now take steps designed to achieve a coordinated machinery for coping with the total problem of deprived children to avoid further fatalities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir K. JosephThe guidance we have issued to local authorities and others concerned with the difficult problem of child abuse recommends a co-ordinated system of local interdisciplinary committees for the organisation of protective measures as well as the management of actual cases. The further guidance I hope to issue early in the new year will again emphasise the importance of effective machinery of this kind in coordinating skilled intervention in suspected and diagnosed cases.