§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will request local education authorities to prepare lists of all children who are more than one-quarter below the average weight or height of children of their age, and to give the names to the local director of social services for further investigation.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasI appreciate the hon. Member's suggestion, but this is not necessarily the most appropriate or effective way of identifying children who 515W are maltreated. I prefer to await the findings of the inquiry into the recent tragic case.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will request local education authorities to ensure that all children have regular medical examinations, and that if an appointment is missed, another one is always made.
§ Mr. St. John-StevasNo. Section 48(1) of the Education Act 1944 lays a duty upon local education authorities to provide medical inspections at appropriate intervals for all children in schools maintained by them. Arrangements for the frequency, scope, and follow-up of the examinations are matters for the local education authority. My Department has, however, commended the tendency among authorities to move from routine medical inspections towards a more selective system of identifying and concentrating on children considered by teachers, school nurses or parents to be at risk or in need of attention.