§ Miss LestorTo ask the Prime Minister if she will list the responsibilities of each Government Department, broken down by departmental divisions, for matters relating to children and young people aged under 18 years.
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 27 July 1988]: Government responsibility for services relating to children and young people covers a wide range of activities and involves a number of departments. The main responsibilities within England are as follows:
Department of Education and Science
—Promotion of education, including the organisation of primary and secondary education, school curriculum and assessment policy, and public examinations.
Department of Employment
—Responsibility for training, employment and vocational 628W education schemes for young people, such as YTS, TVEI and other educational programmes.
—Central responsibility for the career service.
Department of Environment
- —Provision of play for pre-school children.
- —Provision of play for pre-school children.
- —Grants under the urban programme for projects benefiting children.
Department of Health
- —Health services for children and young people in hospital and in the community, including child health surveillance and dental and school health services.
- —Policy for social services for children, including day-care, foster-care and adoption, and prevention of child abuse.
- —Nutrition, including infant feeding.
- —Care and protection of children.
- —Social services for socially deprived families and children in care.
- —Care, control and treatment of juvenile delinquents.
Home Office
- —Criminal justice policies.
- —Arrangements for offenders given custodial sentences.
- —Magistrates' court proceedings involving the custody and maintenance of children.
Lord Chancellor's Department
- —Family law relating to children.
Department of Social Security
—Policy on social security benefits affecting children and young people, including cash benefits for disabled people, unemployment benefits (family credit, child benefit, and one-parent benefit), the social fund, state and occupational pensions, income support and housing benefits.
(Payments of benefits is undertaken by the Department and by local authorities. Payment of unemployment benefits is undertaken by the Department of Employment on an agency basis.)
In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, some of the functions are carried out by the Departments listed above; others or their equivalents are, subject to apropriate legislation, performed by the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland Offices.
Further breakdown by departmental divisions would be possible only at disproportionate cost.